Mabel's Choice
by jadefirefly3D
Summary: For 35 seconds the weight of the world was literally on her shoulders. Mabel makes her choice, but it soon go horribly wrong. Tricked into making a deal Mabel is given the chance to try again and quickly learns there is no right choice. Caught in a no-win situation with two bleak timelines in play and all of reality in jeopardy, she's once again left with an impossible decision.
1. Mabel's Choice

A/N Thanks for clicking on my story. "Not What He Seems" is now officially my favorite episode! (For what it's worth my top five after this one in no order: "Summerween", "Carpet Diem", "Gideon Rises", "Blendin's Game", "Sock Opera" though even those change depending on the day) Those last few moments though during the climax was epic and the animation was so wonderful, I mean you could watch it in mute and understand what the characters are feeling because even though their eyes are white circles with black dots, they managed to convey so much! It hit me right in the feels! Kristin Schaal's performance though is what made me want to write this because when she said she wanted to believe Stan, the delivery was so raw and painful to hear, especially considering how perpetually cheerful and optimistic Mabel normally is, even when things seem dire. It inspired me to expand that moment, that scene because oh man was it powerful!

None of the dialogue is mine, but everything else is my interpretation of what was happening in that scene and what was going through Mabel's head.

_EDIT: 7/30/2015 In light of the episode "A Tale of Two Stans" after much consideration I have decided that while I will not change the original backstory I wrote about Stan in Chapter 7, I will however add in the identity swap between the two Stans as it is a matter of the characters identity and not plot. Over time it would be weird for Grunkle Stan to still be known as Stanford and the Author as Grandpa Stanley in this. So while there will be no major changes to the backstory plotwise, as it is in the show, Grunkle Stan is now Stanley and the Author is now Grunkle Ford and Grandpa Shermy exists. Since this story is so long, it's a work in progress, so please bear with me if you reach a chapter where the edit has not yet been made._

So anyway, here it is!

Enjoy!

* * *

**Mabel's Choice**

It's a lot to take in, a lot to process but the clock is ticking and time is running out fast.

They run to the keys—_Funny, my sweater today has a key—_and she and Soos and Dipper each take one and on Dipper's cue they turn them, activating the manual override to the machine that could destroy the world.

"That's it!" Dipper exclaims as a stand with a bright red button appears directly in front of the giant inverted triangle with a swirling vortex in the centre, "The shutdown switch!"

Together they run towards it. Lights flash and sparks fly all around them and the air feels heavy and hot and suffocating, her heart is racing and her mind reeling as she tries to comprehend the intense feelings that course relentlessly through her. _How could he do that? How could he lie to me, to Dipper to _everyone_ like that, and for what? Power? Knowledge? He built a doomsday device, why would he do that?_

Dipper raises his hand over the button ready to hit it and put an end to it all before it can destroy them all, his expression bitter, angry and determined, "This all ends, NOW!"

Suddenly Stan bursts into the room, all dishevelled and breathless from running stilling Dipper's hand, "Don't touch that button!"

-1 minute, 07 seconds to go-

"Dipper, just back away," Stan begs, approaching them with his hands raised to show he means no harm, "Please don't touch that shutdown button, you gotta trust me."

"And I should trust you why?" Dipper hisses, furious, "After you stole radioactive waste? After you lied to us all summer? I don't even know who you are!"

She listens quietly as Stan and Dipper argue and it hurts because he's their Grunkle…isn't he? No matter what kind of horrible stuff he did, he still loves them, and cares about them, doesn't he?

_Or was that all a lie too?_

Stan tries to convince Dipper to hear him out and leave the machine on, but it's clear that his words aren't getting through to him. And why should they? After all the evidence they found that piled up against him... She's torn. She wants to hear what he has to say, but what good would it do? _How would we know you're telling the truth after everything we learned?_

An alarm on Stan's watch beeps and his eyes widen. "Oh no, brace yourselves!" Stan exclaims in warning just as something in the air shifts and suddenly they're lifted in the air and they're torn away from each other, scattered through the room, impossibly floating as gravity seems to disobey its own laws. Everyone manages to find something to hold on to, everyone except her that is as she finds herself floating without an anchor.

-35 seconds to go-

"Dipper!" she cries out in panic, but she realizes at that moment that she's not going to float away forever when she feels a tug at her foot and discovers it's caught on a power cord. She can feel the electrical heat of the machine behind her, tugging at her, radiating a strange energy that send a low electric current to pulse through her veins. It doesn't hurt, but it's a strange and uncomfortable and her whole body tingles, her muscles tense and she wants it to stop. All of it.

She wants everything to go back to like it was before with the fireworks and the water balloons and the icy pops and everyone was still happy and getting along and they weren't seconds away from certain death because their Grunkle Stan lied to them and betrayed them with this…this Doomsday device or whatever the heck it is.

_Why, Grunkle Stan? Why would you build this? What is it for? Do you really want to destroy us? The universe? How could you do that? It doesn't make sense..._

"Mabel hurry! Shut it down!" Dipper exclaims, keeping her thoughts focused and centered. She nods determinedly, pushing the hurt and fear aside so she can put an end to this. She's the only one who can do this now, but it's OK, she can save them all, no problem.

She grabs the cord and pulls herself down to ground level and grabs hold of the stand that holds the button that can save everyone, clinging on for dear life as gravity seems to want to pull her in the wrong direction. She gathers her bearings and clutches the stand tightly with one hand and lifts the other one to press the red button.

"No!" Stan begs, "Mabel, Mabel, wait! Stop!"

She pauses, looking up at him as he pushes his way towards her. Her eyes widen with fear, and she freezes. It's strange being afraid of her Grunkle Stan because the Grunkle Stan she knew would never hurt her on purpose. The Grukle Stan she knew might've done some bad things, but he's not a bad person. He cares about her and Dipper, in her heart she _knows _it but…all this time he had been lying to them. He either faked his death or stole the identity of their real Grukle—_Why would you do that?—_and now because of him gravity is pulling them away from the ground and a machine that he built tugs at her back, doing who knows what? What's it going to do when the clock reaches zero?

Before Stan can reach her Soos launches himself at Stan, "Soos! What are you doing? I gave you an order!"

"Sorry Mr. Pines, if that really is your name," Soos snaps with determination, "but I have a new mission now, protecting these kids!"

She grasps the stand with both hands, her heart beating so hard and so fast it feels like it's going to beat out of her chest.

-25 seconds to go-

Dipper pushes himself into the melee, helping Soos hold Stan back leaving Mabel free to hit the button and turn off the machine but she can't move.

"Mabel! Press the red button! Shut it down! "

"No you can't! You gotta trust me!"

So much is happening at once, it's too much to take. Hit the button, save the world or trust Stan that it will be OK, after everything he has done…Her heart is pounding so hard she can barely do more than hold on tight for dear life, and while the messed up gravity tries to pull her in one direction, up and towards the machine, it's Dipper and Stan who are tearing her apart by forcing her to make an impossible choice.

The pressure is too much to take and she feels as though she will burst into a million pieces. All logic tells her that she should listen to Dipper and Soos, hit the button, save the world. Save everyone. But the look in Stan's eyes…the desperation in his voice is unlike anything she has ever heard before. Something in her gut tells her that he's never been more honest with them than he is in this moment and maybe she _should_ trust him because to make such a dangerous device, he has to have a good explanation and she wants to hear it so badly but…

"Grunkle Stan, I don't even know if you're my Grunkle!" she sobs as tears fall up and away from her eyes, floating into the air as the weight of the world presses down on her. The literal weight of the world. She doesn't want this kind of responsibility, she just wants everyone to be happy. She wants things to be like they were before, she wants the truth, she wants to be free of this burden suddenly thrust upon her.

Something about her words seem to strike a chord with everyone in the room and they all stop fighting, their expressions going blank as they hover in the air and watch her break down. "I want to believe you but…" _If I don't stop this machine, everyone could die…but what if everything we know is wrong? No matter what we discovered, we don't have all the facts…what if by pressing the button, I make things worse?_

"Then listen to me, remember this morning when I said that I wanted to tell you guys something?" Stan asks.

-20 seconds to go-

Another surge of energy pulses from the machine, pushing Dipper, Stan and Soos away until they slam into the back wall, while the messed up gravitational force tries to pull her towards the machine. It's all she can do to keep hanging on as the energy in the air sends another current to pulse through her, this time it does hurt a little, but the physical pain is momentary and was still nothing compared to the pain in her soul.

_What do I do? What do I do? _

_No, I gotta shut it down..._

"I wanted to say that you're going to here some bad things about me and some of them are true. But trust me, everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family!"

"Mabel, what if he's lying?" Dipper asks, "This thing can destroy the universe! Listen to your head!"

She feels sick, it's too much, it's too much! She looks away at the swirling vortex and sees a vastness of stars that are equally beautiful and terrifying and she can hardly fathom just what kind of machine they were dealing with exactly.

"Look into my eyes Mabel! Do you really think I'm a bad guy?"

"He's lying! Shut it down NOW!"

She holds on tight and can hardly breathe as she looks back and forth between two people she loves so much, one who had never done her wrong, and one who might not even be the person she thought he was. It should be such an easy choice so why is it so _hard_? The evidence said that unless they stop the machine, unless _she_ stops it, unless she presses the big red button the world would be literally torn apart, and she can _feel_ it starting to happen. It's the strangest sensation pulsing through her body, and she wonders if the others feel it too, or if she's the only one, because of her close proximity to the machine…

"Mabel please!" Stan begs.

-10 seconds to go-

_Nope, gotta stop this,_ she thinks, _and once it's over, then Stan can explain himself…_

Her hand hovers over the button but she hesitates, looking the man she knew as Grunkle Stan in the eyes, and in her heart she knows, she _knows_ that when he was asking her to trust him, he was being more sincere than he has _ever_ been. How can she deny him that? He might've been a liar but he still cares about her and Dipper, she _knows_ it. There's got to be something important, something they missed, something they don't know about the machine because she simply can not believe that Stan would ever allow harm to come to them and he's desperate.

He _has_ to have a good reason for wanting-no _needing_ the clock to reach zero.

Suddenly everything in her head goes quiet and time seems to stop and she looks away, blinking back tears as she finally makes her decision, hoping she's not wrong—_I'm so sorry Dipper._

"Grunkle Stan…"

-5 seconds to go-

"I trust you," she closes her eyes and lets go of the switch.

-4-

Her body floats up into the air, towards the mysterious machine as the heat and energy in the room grows more and more intense.

-3-

"Mabel are you CRAZY!" Dipper shouts.

-2-

"We're all gonna-"

-1-

-0-

Suddenly everything goes white and she's engulfed by an intense surge of energy that burns and it feels like she's being torn apart from the inside out, but literally this time around. She screams—_I chose wrong, I chose wrong! I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!—_before everything goes black.

When she comes to—_Are we dead?_—Dipper, Stan and Soos are awake and getting their bearings, all too shocked to argue or do much else. She crawls towards her brother as he pushes himself up a shocked look on his face. Her body aches as though she's just finished an intense workout, her nerve endings still tingling with the sensation of pins and needles. That's her first clue that somehow they're all still alive, that and the fact that while the room is a destroyed mess, it still exists, her choice did _not_ result in the end of the world.

Dipper reaches down and helps her to her feet where she sways with dizziness for a moment. He holds her steady, his eyes a quiet question of concern. _Yeah, I'm OK_, she silently returns with a small smile. Everyone seems more or less OK, a little bruised and sore maybe, but OK. Dipper nods with relief, but then his eyes darken and he lets go of her, and she can see that he feels a little betrayed by her. She understands where he's coming from, but at least they're all alive to sort it out.

_I'm sorry Dipper, but I _had_ to._

She looks to Stan for an explanation, but his eyes are fixed on the machine that's now broken, but still standing upright. Everyone follows Stan's gaze to a figure emerging from the machine—a portal of some sort, she realizes-_I guess that explains the stars_. She tenses, not knowing if the figure was friend or foe and clutches Dipper's arm but he shakes it off. A small gasp escapes Dipper when the figure kneels down in front of Journal #1, a gloved hand resting over the cover. Looking closer she realizes that the figure has six fingers and she too releases a surprised gasp.

"What?" Dipper exclaims breathlessly, "Who's that?"

"The author of the journals," Stan replies quietly as the figure lowers the hood that conceals his face revealing a man that looks nearly identical to Stan, "My brother."

_Woah, I was _not_ expecting that!_

It all makes sense now, and yet there are so many questions. Questions left unanswered, each question leading to more and more questions. But they're all alive and that's what matters. The burden that pressed so heavily on her shoulders has been lifted, and even though gravity has returned to normal she feels lighter than air.

She can't help herself, in her shock she blurts, "Is this the part where someone faints?"

"Oh, I'm so on it dude!" Soos volunteers cheerfully, dropping to the ground.

She releases the breath she didn't know she was holding as she ignores the seed of doubt building in the back of her mind and concludes that she made the right choice.

Didn't she?

* * *

A/N So while this chapter was intended as a one shot and written to stand on its own, I've decided to write an AU version of what might happen next so if you want you can chose to stop here or continue reading. Either way, thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!


	2. Doubt

A/N I wasn't going to do this. I wasn't going to expand this story until I was more caught up on my other ones but darn it! This episode-gah! It's driven my muse crazy and I want to know what happens next so bad! The only way to pass the time waiting for the next episode and to see where the genius Alex plans to take the show is to come up with my own version. So, here it is.

_EDIT 7/30/2015 to include the identity swap between the Stans._

Enjoy!

* * *

**Doubt**

Dipper's expression is one filled with so much emotion that Mabel can't figure out exactly what's going on in his head, which is weird for her because as his twin, she could read him like a book most of the time. But with such a huge overload of well…everything, it's no wonder he looks equal parts angry, confused and awestruck with a million more emotions in between.

The room goes a little topsy-turvy for a moment and she reaches for Dipper's arm again, this time to steady herself but he takes a step forward and she misses, barely able to regain her balance.

Stan takes a few steps towards his long lost brother, his eyes a clear picture into his soul. He looks like he's almost in tears and she could only imagine what he's going through. His brother, the Author—_Another Grunkle?_—takes a step towards him, and she smiles in anticipation imagining they must be so happy to see each other again after so long!

"Stan," the Author murmurs, "Is that you?"

"It's me," Stan chokes out, "you're…you're back. I can't believe it." He holds out his hand and his brother takes it and they pull each other into a warm embrace. But to everyone's surprise the Author suddenly pulls away, reaches his hand back and delivers a fierce right hook into Stan's jaw.

"What have you _done_?" he demands as Stan puts a hand to his split lip.

"I probably deserved that," Stan nods, taking the punch in stride.

The Author takes Stan's shirt collar into his fists, pulling him so they're face to face as he lifts him off the ground, "Damn right you do! Do you have _any_ idea the mess you caused? You fool! You idiot! You…"

Grunkle Stan doesn't even try to defend himself instead he calmly replies, "You would've done the same thing if you were in my shoes, and you know it."

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Dipper exclaims.

"Who are they?" the Author demands, tilting his chin towards Dipper and Mabel and Soos who's back on his feet, clearly torn between coming to Stan's aid or staying where he is.

"They're Shermy's grandkids, Dipper and Mabel, the big guy is Soos, my handyman."

"Wait, I'm a great uncle?" he releases Stan who straightens his shirt as the Author steps towards them in shock eyeing them suspiciously for a moment before apparently deciding they're related.

"Kids, meet my twin brother, your Grunkle Stanford,," Stan introduces, gesturing towards him.

"Wait," Dipper exclaims in complete surprise, "I thought you were...if you're not Stanford, then who _are _you?"

"I'm still your Grunkle Stan, but my name's actually Stanley..."

"You _stole_ my identity?" the Author, the _real_ Stanford Pines accuses. "Why would you do that?"

"I kinda had to," Stan replies sheepishly, addressing everyone in the room apologetically, "It's a long story."

"Wait, your parents named you dudes, Stanford and Stanley?" Soos exclaims, attempting to ease the tension in the room, "Talk about confusing!"

Mabel grins, if she could find her voice she might've made a similar comment, something about Stan 1 and Stan 2 but she feels strange, almost like she's outside of herself. Like if she doesn't concentrate on staying on her feet, she'd simply fade away.

"Well, he always went by the name Ford," Stan explains, "made it a little less confusing."

"You…you wrote the journals," Dipper murmurs in awe, "all this time…the author was my great-uncle, my _other_ great-uncle? I thought…I thought..."

_The newspaper article…_she realizes as it clicks in place, _So Grunkle Stan _did_ fake his death to pretend to be his brother…but why? Well, he must've had a good reason, _While the revelation about Grunkle Stan's true identity only raised more questions, she's still king of relieved, _He's still our Grunkle, even if he did take on his brother's name…_ she beams at the thought happy to know that's one thing that wasn't a big lie.

Ford barely pays Dipper any attention as he turns back towards Grunkle Stan and hisses accusingly, "You told him about the journals?"

"Kid found out on his own," Stan replies.

"I have so many questions…journal #3 has been like, my _bible_ since I found it!" Dipper stammers, "you have no idea how long I…"

"Then you are a fool for putting so much stock into something that is mostly meaningless drivel written long ago by a young, ignorant and paranoid man," Ford scoffs dismissively, "and the rest… was either a lie or should have never been seen by _children_ or anyone for that matter." He gestures vaguely at the broken portal, "Case in point..."

"But…that's not true. It's saved our lives many times... it…" Dipper gapes, raw hurt clear in his eyes.

Ignoring him completely, Ford's eyes scan the room and all the destruction the portal caused, "You shouldn't have done this Stanley. You knew better than to rebuild this, you _know _how dangerous turning this on was!"

"I got you back, didn't I?" Stan asks, his voice shaking, "Isn't that worth anything?"

"Not if it means killing us all!" Ford snaps, "Because that's exactly what you've done!"

Mabel's taken aback, the small seed of doubt about her decision taking root in her mind. _Not true! We're still here! The portal thingie didn't tear the world apart!_ She thinks, and she wants to say it out loud but remains silent. _I didn't choose wrong. I couldn't have…_

"You're wrong, Ford," Grunkle Stan shakes his head, "might've caused a little bit of damage, but in case you didn't notice, the clock reached zero and the world didn't end."

"Oh don't you get it? Did you think it would be instantaneous? All you did was kick-start the beginning of the end!"

"Wh-what?" Mabel chokes out.

"I wanted to save my brother!" Stan snaps, "I did what I had to do to save you, don't _you_ get it?"

"I told you to _never_ let that clock reach zero, no matter what!"

"It was the only way! Besides, _you_ did it!"

"Yeah and look where it got me? I had to throw myself in just to keep the world from literally falling apart!"

"Well, you're back now and the world is still in one piece. You're welcome."

"Yeah, I got through. Along with who knows what else?" Ford asks, "You've put everyone in danger with your recklessness…you _knew_ better. I told you not to save me!"

"And yet here you are," Stan mutters, "And I have no regrets."

"You will. You will regret letting that portal open," Ford warns.

"Don't blame Grunkle Stan," Mabel says finally, her stomach rolling with nausea, "I'm the one who let it reach zero. I could have shut it off, but I didn't."

Ford straightens up and marches towards her furiously and Mabel flinches, expecting him to throw a punch in her direction but he doesn't, he closes his fist and stands over her menacingly, "You did _what_?"

Soos jumps in between them shoving Ford back a step as Dipper moves in beside Soos and snaps, "Hey! Leave her alone! We tried to stop it, OK? She just let her heart get in the way of her head!"

"Stupid girl gets it from _you_ I bet," Ford hisses at Stan.

"You can hate me all you want Stanford," Stan says, moving between him and the twins protectively giving him a forceful shove, "but leave these kids out of it. They're good kids, smart, strong, resourceful. You'd probably be real proud of them if you could just get rid of that stick that's clearly jammed up your rear end!"

"You just don't understand, do you?" Ford asks, disappointed. "Look Stanley, I appreciate you trying to save me, but I wasn't the one who needed saving. I jumped in to save _you_. To save everyone. Don't you see? And now you doomed us all."

"And you knew it, didn't you?" Dipper asks quietly, turning to Grunkle Stan.

"I knew...I knew there were _risks_," he nods, swallowing hard, "but…"

Ford sighs, grabbing the journals among the debris the portal caused, "Once again I'm left fixing your mistakes, aren't I Stanley? Only this time I don't think they can be fixed." He storms out of the room without another word, leaving everyone else to watch in shock.

"I…I made the wrong choice, didn't I?" Mabel murmurs quietly, swaying as the room tilts. _I feel so…strange._ She grabs Dipper's shoulder for balance but he pulls away quickly.

"Yeah, you did," Dipper coldly replies, twirling to face Stan, "And you…what the heck man? You _knew_ this machine could end the world, and maybe it still will! You lied to us, and now…"

"Dipper, he did it to save his brother…could you blame him?" Mabel asks. _You'd do the same for me._

"Yeah and at what cost?" Dipper retorts, "He willingly put us in danger…and all for that…that _jerk_. I…I fantasized about meeting the Author for so long and thought he'd be…I didn't expect him to… Gah! I don't know what to believe anymore!"

"I'm sorry," Stan tells him, "Ford... he… he's changed. I don't know what he's been through, and I didn't know what to expect but I never expected him to turn on you kids like that…_I_ had it comin' it but…I'm sorry. I never meant for this to…"

"Too little too late _Stanford_, no wait, that's not even your name because you lied about that too, _Stanley,_" Dipper seethes, wiping a tear from his eye. He turns around starts to walk away, not even bothering to give anyone a second glance.

"Dipper…" Mabel calls after him, "Dipper wait!"

"Just… leave me alone Mabel," he sighs, heading for the elevator.

"Uh-uh, no way!" she runs after him, "We still don't know everything, we can work this out! We just have to listen to what Grunkle…"

"Sure, take his side," Dipper huffs, "after all that he's done."

"I'm not taking anyone's side!"

"That's why you shut the machine down? Oh wait, you didn't. You decided to trust the man who has been lying to us all summer! And now we're all screwed!"

"We don't know that for sure," Mabel says hopefully, "Maybe Ford is wrong, maybe the worst is over."

"Or maybe it's only just beginning and the worst is yet to come!"

_And I made it happen…_Mabel's vision blurs as tears fill her eyes, "If that's the case then we can fix this if we work together!"

Dipper opened the elevator door and turned to face her, "Go away Mabel. Just leave me alone, I need time to think."

_Time. That was a luxury I didn't exactly have. You didn't see the look in his eyes…and now we _know_ what that machine's purpose was to him. You'd do the same for me, I know you would._

"Dipper…I'm sorry."

"I know," he sighs, softening a bit though the anger and hurt is still there, loud and clear, "I know you meant well but…everything I've ever believed in this summer has turned out to be a lie. Grunkle Stan, the journals….and who knows what else happened when that portal opened? And I've given up so much for you, but when it mattered most? You chose to listen to Stan rather than me. We should've shut it off."

_Maybe but…_"I'm still not sure if that's true! Dipper, we don't have all the facts, there's still so much that we don't know and…"

"Please," he frowns, "just go away. I want to be alone for a while," He pushes her away from the elevator and slams the door shut and it lifts him up to the higher levels.

Even though he didn't push her very hard, Mabel gasps and staggers back doubling over as a wave of pain hits her suddenly and flashes of white cross her vision. Her body still aches relentlessly and still tingles from the raw energy that radiated from the portal, but this is new and different and it knocks her down to her knees. She doubles over, her body shaking but there's no one there to notice. Stan and Soos are still in the room with the portal, and Dipper turned away and left without having a clue of what he did. She's cold and hot at the same time, a thin layer of cold sweat leaves her trembling and she takes long deep breaths until it subsides enough to get back on her feet.

_What's wrong with me?_

She staggers back into the portal room where Soos is arguing with Stan, tears in his eyes.

"I've been working for you for _ten_ years! I looked up to you Mr. Pines! I saw you as a father figure, how could you keep something like this from me? You couldn't even bother to tell me your real _name_!" Soos cries. "I've been a hundred percent loyal to you, always on call for you, always willing to do whatever you asked no question, and you couldn't be bothered to trust me?"

"I'm sorry Soos, I had to. It was to protect you," Stan replies quietly, "the less you knew, the better. What I was doing, it was dangerous and I knew sooner or later the feds would come after me, I didn't want to incriminate you too."

"Makes me wonder what else you've been hiding."

"You saw what went down, you know that my intentions were good. I knew there was a risk, but I had to take it, I had to. And it all turned out OK. Nothing else came through, Ford was just being…I don't know, he's changed so much…" Stan looks uncertain and raw.

_Do we know that for sure? What if something _did_ get through while we were unconscious...?_

"I'm sorry Mr. Pines, you may have meant well, but I… I used to idolize you and now I don't think I even _know_ you, not anymore," behind his unusual anger, Soos looks devastated, "It pains me to do this but…I quit."

"I understand," Stan nods, though it's clear that it hurt him to hear it as much as it hurt Soos to say it.

"Soos….you can't!" Mabel gasps.

"Sorry Hambone," Soos smiles at her gently, "but after what happened, I just don't think I can stay."

"And I'm not going to stop you," Stan's voice is empty and sad, "You deserve better than me Soos. Before you go, I need you to do one last thing for me, and…it's a big one."

Soos rolls his eyes, "Are you for _real_? Did you not just hear that I…"

"I need you to take care of Dipper and Mabel for me," Stan cuts him off, "that means taking them home to their parents in Piedmont. I know it's a lot to ask because it's so far away but it's not safe for them here. This is my mess and I'm the one who has to fix it. They shouldn't have to deal with what's ahead."

"But Grunkle Stan, we're a part of this whether you like it or not," Mabel protests, "I was the one who chose to let this happen, I could have stopped it and I didn't. There's so much I don't understand, like why you'd take your brother's name, but I still trust you. But I don't know if I made the right choice or not when I didn't shut the machine off. But it's done and we're alive and if your brother is right then… then… the only way we can…" her voice fades and she stops with a groan.

Something inside doesn't feel right. She can't figure it out, it's not pain but it hurts, but it's not like the ache that's settled in her bones, it's not like the pins and needles of numbness in her nerve endings, it's not the shakiness and dizziness that's throwing her off balance or the nausea. It's all those things and yet also none of those things. It's different. It's like she's no longer fully connected to her own body, she feels hollow and detached like she has to focus on holding on before she floats away forever, leaving behind an empty shell.

"Mabel, are you OK?" Stan asks, taking a step towards her.

"You're looking kinda pale there dude," Soos adds with concern.

She nods, swallowing hard, "Yeah. I might've…I don't know…when the portal opened…felt like…"_ Like I was being torn apart from the inside out, but surely I'm not the only one._ She shakes her head—_Focus!—_and says confidently, "If we're to stop whatever might be coming, the only way we can do it is if we work together. We're all in this together."

"I like your attitude kiddo, but not this time. This is my mess," Stan says with a weak smile, "I'll explain everything to you one day soon, very soon, I promise. But we really do have to get moving. I managed to lure the feds away from here, but that'll last only so long. Soos, will you do this one last thing for me? Please?"

"I promise I'll get these kids home safely. But I'm not going to do it for you, I'm doing it for them."

"As long as they're safe, that's all that matters."

"But what about you? Aren't you coming?" Mabel asks, saddened when Stan shakes his head, "But then what will you do? The Agents they…"

"That's why we all have to leave now. I'm a wanted man, I have to go into hiding for a while, find my brother and try and figure out how to fix this, but I can't until I know you and Dipper are safe," Stan combs a lock of hair out of her face with his fingers before resting his hand on her shoulder, his eyes misty with unshed tears, "Get your brother and pack as much as you can in the next couple of minutes and then you need to go. Now. Be safe and don't look back."

"I don't know if I can!" she cries—_You're making it sound like this is good-bye forever—_"Grunkle Stan…"

"Mabel honey, it's going to be OK. I promise that I will fix this, and one day soon I will explain everything to you, all of you, but right now…just _please_!"

She throws her arms around her Grunkle, "You be safe too," she sniffs, crying into his shoulder.

"I will," he replies, kissing the top of her head, "And Mabel? Thank you for believing in me."

"Just don't…don't let us down again, OK?" she asks meekly, unable to look him in the eye nor hide the uncertainty in her voice.

"I...I won't."

* * *

A/N As much as I don't want to see a rift form between everyone, I think it's an inevitable outcome after what happened.

Anyway, thanks for reading, please let me know what you think! Good or bad. I'd love to hear any thoughts or theories or criticisms you may have.


	3. Unstable

A/N Thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! You're all so awesome. Man this episode...my need to see what happens next has really fueled the muse! Hope I can keep up this momentum! Not much else to say, which is weird. I'm typically more long winded than this.

_EDIT 7/30/2015 to include identity switch between the Stans._

Enjoy!

* * *

**Unstable**

"Are you sure you're OK Hambone?" Soos asks as he leads the way to the elevator.

"Yeah," Mabel nods, "it's just…so much happening at once. Kinda overwhelming, y'know?"

"Yeah," he replies softly, stepping into the elevator and turning to face Mabel who looks back towards the portal room where they left Stan behind. "Come on, we have to go dude."

"This doesn't feel right," Mabel muses sadly, "leaving him alone like this. I know he… I know he lied to us, but…he never meant to hurt us."

Soos sighs deeply, "I know. But Stan knows what he's doing, and he knows what he did."

Mabel wraps her arms around herself wincing as it triggers a flare of pain inside as she steps into the elevator. Her vision blurs and she leans heavily against the wall, resting her forehead on the cool surface and when the elevator moves, her stomach lurches and she has to swallow to keep from throwing up. She closes her eyes and all she can see is a vastness of stars in the centre of a swirling vortex of rainbows and light, beautiful and dangerous and terrifying. She can feel the acidity of the icy pops she binged on earlier that morning burn at her throat as her stomach churns and she gags, trying to keep it all down. She flinches when she feels Soos rest his hand on her shoulder, startled because for a moment she had forgotten where she was, for a moment she felt as though gravity was pulling her up, up and away.

"Mabel?"

She blinks open her eyes and sees that they reached the top and were no longer in the sublevels of the Mystery Shack, but what might've at one point been a normal basement and not a gateway of secrets.

"I'm OK," she blurts, not wanting him to have to ask again.

"You sure about that?"

She nods.

Soos shrugs, clearly not believing her but he doesn't argue. "If you say so, dude." He starts to climb the stairs that lead to the vending machine in the gift shop but when she doesn't follow he stops and turns to her, his eyes a question.

Mabel's not paying attention to the stairs, she follows with her eyes a huge crack along the cement wall. It's not just a crack, but it's like the entire wall shifted, the top half no longer lined up with the bottom half. _Woah… _"That's fixable, right?" she asks.

Soos frowns, "Assuming it's not the foundation, or a load bearing wall it should be fine."

"And if it is?" _The Mystery Shack isn't doomed to collapse or anything, is it?_

Soos doesn't answer, instead he clenches his jaw and starts heading up the stairs and Mabel follows close behind, glancing behind her in the hopes that maybe Grunkle Stan changed his mind and was going with them.

When they get to the top they see that the Gift Shop is a total disaster, like a tornado ripped through it. The structural damage is even more prominent now they're at ground level and Mabel feels tears well up, _Did I do this by letting the machine stay on?_

"We have to hurry, Hambone," Soos says grimly, "it's not safe to be in here. Dipper!" he calls, walking ahead towards the "Employee's Only" door that leads to the living room and foyer. "Dipper! We have to go!"

"What about Grunkle Stan?" she asks.

"He's fine," Soos shrugs.

_No he's not. None of us are, but we can't leave him down there, we can't leave him behind!_

"Come on," Soos says, taking her hand and pulling her towards him so she'd stay close, "we don't have time. We need to find Dipper and…"

Something shifts inside her when Soos pulls her forward and she gasps, doubling over and falling to her knees, still clutching Soos's hand, she releases a pained whimper as her vision goes white for a moment.

"Mabel!" Soos exclaims in surprise, crouching down beside her, "What happened, are you OK?"

For a moment she doesn't say anything, mostly because she _can't_ say anything because it's all she can do to fight the strange sensation that she's both floating and falling at once, like gravity is trying to pull her in two different directions and she has to hold on tight lest she be torn into pieces. But when she finally dares to blink her eyes open she's almost surprised to see that she hasn't moved and is still crumpled on the Gift Shop floor. A foul, metallic taste fills her mouth and she swallows, finally giving Soos a shaky nod.

"I think I tripped," she explains, her voice quivering. _What's wrong with me?_

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she replies quietly, not wanting to make a fuss. There's just too much happening at once to worry about it, besides she couldn't be the only one feeling weird after the portal opened. It had sent such a strange energy to blast through the room—they all felt it. If they could handle it, she could handle it.

She can tell right away that Soos doesn't buy it and she sighs, "I'm OK Soos, as good as can be expected after everything. Maybe a little off balance, but hey, we were in like zero gravity for a minute there, so yeah. _That_ was weird! I mean hey, am I right?" she chuckles, trying to be more like her old cheerful self, like the girl she was this morning, before Stan was arrested. But her voice sounds foreign in her own ears and she feels an odd sense of loss. But then again, in just the course of a few hours, they had all lost so much.

_There's no going back from here. Everything has changed now and nothing will ever be the same. _Mabel wipes a tear from her eye as the reality of it hits her.

The Mystery Shack makes a strange groaning noise and Soos frowns, shifting on his feet uncomfortably, "I think we should hurry," he cups his hand over his mouth and calls out, "Dipper! You in here?" he pushes his way through the 'Employee's Only' door into the living room where the find the floor is at a slight but visibly noticeable angle, the furniture is in disarray, the TV broken, the windows shattered.

"I'll get him," Mabel says, pushing her way ahead into the foyer and up the stairs into the attic. There's a large crack going up the wall, and some of the steps are broken so she has to move with care as she makes her way up, marvelling in shock and sadness at the sorry state of the Shack._ Did I do this when I made my choice? Is this my fault? Did Grunkle Stan know the kind of damage the portal would cause?_ She pushes the door open to see the room is a mess and Dipper is sitting on his bed, the frame broken. His back is turned and he doesn't look at her when she enters, instead he's staring at something. "Dipper?"

Dipper swipes his hand over his eyes, sniffling and she can see that he's holding the cork board he keeps on the wall near his bed. His conspiracy board, with all the codes and cipher's he'd been working on solving, pictures and newspaper clippings and crude sketches, lists of names trying to narrow down the identity of the author of the journal.

"Dipper are you OK?"

"It was all a lie," he mutters, his voice shaking, "all of it. None of it was real."

"You know that's not true," Mabel says, "unless all those weird things we've encountered this summer was only a sign that we're both delusional."

"That's not what I mean," Dipper snaps, twisting around to face her, "and you know it." He turns his back on her again, "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?"

Mabel starts gathering some of her things, "Yeah well, we've got to pack up our stuff. Stan says we have to go before the Agents get back."

"I'm not going anywhere with _him_," Dipper's voice quivers, raw with the sting of betrayal.

"He's not coming," Mabel states quietly, "Soos is taking us home—back to Piedmont."

"Good," Dipper mutters, climbing to his feet and haphazardly stuffing his backpack with random clothes, "because I'm done here." His movements are quick and jerky, his whole being betraying his anger as he carelessly packs and Mabel watches him sadly, wanting to say something—_anything_ to ease the tension or put a smile on his face despite how upset he is, but the words that usually come so easily, so _naturally _escape her so she keeps silent.

She winces when she reaches for her own back pack, protectively clutching her middle as though it's the only way she'll be able to stay in one piece. The strange pain yet not-pain subsides quickly though and she starts gathering a few of her favorite sweaters. She stuffs a few of them into her bag but when she gets to a bright pink one she stops, turns it over to see it's the one with the shooting star. It was her all-time favorite one, the first one she made that didn't have any knitting mistakes. It had been too big for her when she completed it a year and a half ago, and still was a little big now but she liked it that way.

The design was what she wanted to make when she first took up the hobby and she was so proud of it. Of all the crazy sweaters she made since, this one was always so special to her. She couldn't pinpoint why except that it was her first major accomplishment, the first sweater she ever made by herself without mistakes and when she wore it she felt warm and safe and would often wear it when she knew she was going into a situation that made her uneasy, like her first day of school, or her first few days away from home in Gravity Falls. It was her secret impenetrable armor. But now she looks at it and the magic is gone. It's suddenly meaningless to her but she folds it with care nonetheless and puts it in her bag almost ceremoniously.

She sits on her bed, still feeling a little off balance and glances at Dipper. Even though she can see him clearly, it feels like she's watching him through thick fog. He's so upset, and she can't blame him. His whole world had been shattered in the course of one day. No matter what she chose, he would be upset, but the fact that she chose to trust Stan meant that she left Dipper feeling like he has no one he could count on.

_I'm sorry, Dipper_, she thinks, and she wants to say it out loud, her lips move but the words don't come out. _I'm still on your side, always. I just…I had to follow my instincts and listen to my heart. Maybe I was wrong, I don't know but at least we know that Grunkle Stan's intentions were good, right? That's gotta count for _something_ right?_

Dipper stops packing and looks around the room, seemingly satisfied that he's packed everything he needs. It isn't like they have the time to be thorough, but it's enough. His eyes drift to the conspiracy board and his face goes blank for a moment and he stares at it again, and she could see the tension in his stance, like a pressure cooker about to explode.

"I'm so sorry Dipper, I…" she says finally.

But he ignores her like she's not even there and with a strange sort of battle cry he suddenly drops his bag and grabs the board, carelessly tearing off the clippings and codes and then smashes it against his desk. Mabel flinches and wipes a tear from her eye as she sits on her bed and watches him go at it. It was his passion project that bordered on obsession and it breaks her heart to watch him destroy it, knowing how big of a deal it was to him.

"It was all a _lie_!" he hisses, throwing it on the floor and kicking at the pieces, "All of it! Everything I ever cared about this summer was a _lie_! How could I have been so _stupid_?!"

"Dipper…" Mabel sobs, "Dipper please…"

Still ignoring her he takes off his hat and looks at it for a moment, his expression a roller coaster of emotion. Grunkle Stan gave him that hat in their first week there, after he saved Mabel from the gnomes and he wore it every day since—it had become almost a part of his identity. He releases a garbled sob from the base of his throat and throws the hat into the wreckage of the destroyed conspiracy board and storms out of the room with his backpack slung over his shoulder and doesn't look back.

Mabel lets her tears fall freely as she leans forward and reaches for the hat, grabbing it off the floor. With the same kind of ceremonial reverence she had with her shooting star sweater, she carefully puts the hat in her bag next to it and closes her backpack without packing much else besides her grappling hook. All her posters and glitter and art projects and supplies could stay behind, they don't seem to matter much to her anymore and could easily be replaced. The only extra thing she packs is some yarn and knitting needles so she'd have something to distract herself with on the long trip home. Besides, maybe she can make something awesome for Dipper as a way to hopefully cheer him up a little.

There's only one thing left to grab that matters. "Waddles?" she calls, "Here boy!" There's no sign of the pig though and she starts to get a little frantic. "Waddles?"

"Mabel hurry!" she hears Soos call from the bottom of the stairs, "We got to go!"

"Is Waddles down there with you?" she calls back.

"No, but I'm sure he's fine Hambone. Now come on, we have to leave…it's not safe in here!"

"I can't leave without Waddles!" she exclaims, _It's bad enough leaving Grunkle Stan behind…and that still doesn't feel right._

"Mabel! Please!"

She's torn but she realizes Soos is right. Waddles would be fine, she had to believe it. Maybe Grunkle Stan could take care of him, or even Wendy since it looks like Stan wouldn't be able to while on the run._ Oh Grunkle Stan…what are you going to do?_ Besides, realistically there's no way she could keep him back home, her parent's would never allow it. _But I want to at least say goodbye!_

She's so focused on finding Waddles that she doesn't notice the uneven floorboards, another sign of the damage the Mystery Shack sustained, and she stumbles. The sudden jarring motion makes her head spin and her aching body to retaliate with a surge of pain that for a moment steals her breath away. She leans heavily against the wall, closing her eyes and holding on for dear life, feeling the phantom tug of weightlessness pulling at her back and she's scared to let go because otherwise she might fade away.

_Something's wrong…what's wrong with me?_

She feels so hollow and detached, like two different forces within her want to tear her apart and it _hurts_ and yet it doesn't and she feels heavy and yet weightless, and her nerves buzz with a strange and terrifying energy, much like she felt in the portal room when gravity tried to pull her away from everyone. And maybe she's still there, trapped with an impossible decision with consequences beyond her understanding.

_Let go, let go…it's all right…just let go and everything will be all right…_

She shakes her head at the barely audible whisper in the back of her mind and holds on tighter, so terrified that she'd fade away into nothing and she wants to call for help but she can't find her voice. She can't move, she can't breathe, she can't feel and yet it still _hurts._

"Mabel! Hurry up!" it's Dipper's voice this time around calling her pulling her from the edge of oblivion and she can hear him heading back up the stairs despite Soos telling him not to in the background.

Her brother's voice brings her back into the moment and the strange sensation stops, leaving behind a deep ache that has her shaking. She swallows compulsively to keep from throwing up and moves forward, meeting him at the top of the stairs. "We don't have time for you to pack every stupid thing you have!"

She gets that he's mad at her for choosing to trust Stan, she gets it and can't blame him for it, but his words hit a nerve and she shoots him a look, her lip quivering. She opens her mouth to speak but once again the words don't come to her, instead she wraps her arms around herself protectively and brushes past him meeting Soos at the bottom of the stairs. Soos ushers her and Dipper ahead, leading them back through the gift shop and out the door with the intent to flee like Stan instructed before the Agents can return but they stop in their tracks when they step outside.

"Woah," Dipper exclaims, his hands curling into fists as he takes in the full extent of the damage the portal caused. Trees are broken in half or missing branches and some are even completely torn from their roots and fallen, the totem pole lies in the grass, uprooted from its base. The tires on Soos's truck are flat, the rims and hubcaps bent out of shape and it truly looks as though it had been lifted to a great height and dropped along with everything else on and around the property.

"I guess the anti-gravity affected more than the portal room and the Shack," Mabel murmurs, looking behind her at the Shack to see that it's completely out of alignment with its foundation, resting at an angle, the roof looks like it had been torn off completely and recklessly put back in place. _No wonder Soos was so anxious about us getting out of there…it looks like…looks like…oh man it looks like it's going to fall any second now!_

"You think?" Dipper chides, "And Gru—Stanley knew...he knew that this would happen…are you happy now Mabel?"

The world tilts suddenly and Mabel stumbles backwards to keep from falling, "Dipper please…" she whispers, her body trembling, "don't. Don't pin this on me." _Even though I know I'm partially to blame...but..._

"This wouldn't have happened if you shut the machine off," he continues.

"Dipper I…I did what I thought was right!"

"Trusting a con man? A liar and a thief? Over reason, over everything? Trusting him instead of me?" he hisses, "That sound right to you?"

"You didn't see it, did you? The look in his eyes…no matter what the outcome, he did it for his brother," Mabel sobs, "Do you think Grunkle Stan _wanted_ this to happen?"

"Dudes, maybe now's not the best time to be fighting like this?" Soos chuckles nervously, gently ushering them further away from the Mystery Shack, "We've got bigger things to worry about right now. Like how are we going to get out of here with my truck looking like this?"

"Can you fix it?" Dipper asks as they make their way to the damaged truck while Mabel stays rooted in place, glancing back and forth between the Mystery Shack and Soos and Dipper.

_Grunkle Stan…he's still inside._

"Yeah but it would take time we don't have, and I'll probably have to replace some parts…"

"Then what do we do now?"

There's a creak and a moan coming from the Shack that catches Soos and Dipper's attention. Dipper turns and looks at the Mystery Shack for the first time since they went outside his eyes widen in shock as he exclaims, "It looks…it looks worse than I thought from out here!"

_Grunkle Stan…_

Mabel starts towards the Mystery Shack, her gut telling her she has to hurry, it looks like a slight gust of wind would knock the whole thing over any minute now—_I have to warn Grunkle Stan—_but Soos wraps his arms around her and pulls her back, "Woah, you can't go back in there Hambone, it's too dangerous!"

"But Grunkle Stan's still in there!" she gasps, ignoring the wave of pain and energy that pulses through her as she tries to fight back, "We can't leave him behind! We have to—"

Then it happens. It starts with a loud crack, and then another and then another and the building groans and moans and begins to tilt until finally the Mystery Shack collapses into a heap of dust, wood, and memories.

"GRUNKLE STAN!"

* * *

A/N GAHHHH! This chapter was so hard to write on an emotional level! I really didn't want to do it, but after the shots of the gravity anomalies through the town and of the exterior of the Shack, I figure there had to be some major damage. It was like killing an important character, but at least she can be rebuilt? (Please don't hate me!)

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, your thoughts and theories and whatever criticisms you may have, good or bad are more than welcome! I would love to hear from you!


	4. Collapse

A/N Once again thank you all so very, very much for reading my story and to all my reviewers and everyone who is following and/or has favorited this. You guys are awesome and it really makes my day to see that people are enjoying my stuff! It really helps keep me motivated to follow and pursue my passion for writing, and this (fanfiction) is such a fun way to hone my writing skills, y'know what I mean?

Anyway, this story and this episode has really captured my muse and I hope I can keep up the momentum of frequent updates. Seeing such supportive feedback definitely helps!

_EDIT 7/30/2015_

Well, without further ado, here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Collapse**

She can hardly believe what's happening. At the first sound of the wood cracking and the Mystery Shack shifting, she stops fighting Soos who holds her back as she watches with horror the building collapse and her first thought is of Stan who's still inside.

"GRUNKLE STAN!" she cries, fighting Soos again as she tries to make her way to the unstable rubble that was their home away from home. It doesn't matter what Stan did anymore as long as he's OK. If they're to work out everything and all make amends he has to be OK and she can't accept any other possibility.

"Hey, hey, Mabel," Soos soothes, "he's OK, he's fine."

"We don't know that!" she sobs, "We have to make sure!"

"He's safe Hambone, I promise. He's in the bunker under the Shack, remember?"

"But what if he's trapped? What if he can't get out? What if he's not under there anymore and…" she gasps as she realizes something else, "Waddles! Waddles was in there too! I have to make sure they're OK!"

"It's still not safe Mabel—Dipper! Dipper you need to stay back!" Soos releases Mabel with one hand to reach for Dipper who looks like he's in shock, slowly stepping towards the remains of the Shack, one foot at a time. He looks like a lost kid, unable to comprehend what's happening, unable to fathom what just happened.

She understands the feeling.

"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper calls, shaking off Soos who grabs his shoulder, the shock of what happened apparently making him momentarily forget how angry and betrayed he felt. He steps closer until he's at the edge of the rubble that was once the Gift Shop and bends over to pick up part of the sign that once rested above the door.

"Dipper come back here dude, it's still not safe!"

"Dipper do you see anything?" Mabel asks.

"I…I don't know…" he stammers. "I can get inside though and take a look, there's room to move around…sorta…"

"Don't you dare!" Soos exclaims, "I'll look, but you dudes need to stay out here. Please!"

Dipper turns to face them, looking a little frantic and uncertain, "I can see the vending machine, there's no way he can get through there."

"He's trapped!" Mabel cries, "If he's still down there then…"

"He'll be fine," Soos promises, though his eyes betray his worry and doubt. "I bet he's stocked up on tons of supplies and is probably in a better position than we are dudes. I bet he can live down there for a long time until we can get him out."

"And Waddles?" Mabel squeaks, the world starts to spin and she falls to her knees, holding herself to keep from falling apart as the world around her seems to crumble. _This is my fault…I did this. I should've just shut off the machine like Dipper said and none of this would've happened._

"For all we know he's not in there at all, maybe he got out and wandered off," Dipper offers, turning to her as Soos approaches the remains of the Shack. "I'm sure he's fine. They're both…they're both fine."

Mabel nods hopefully, hugging herself as she watches Soos try and find a safe way inside the fallen Shack. She half expects Dipper to offer some sort of comfort, a hand on her shoulder something, but he doesn't. In fact, he just walks away and follows Soos, ignoring his objections.

It's not like she expects or even feels like she deserves to be comforted when the power to prevent all of this from happening was in her hands and she instead chose to let the portal open, but it's weird. It's weird because it's Dipper. The thing about Dipper is that even when he's mad at her, the one thing that had always been a given was that he couldn't stand to see her hurt or upset and in a time of crisis would typically let any misgivings he may have melt away, even if it's temporary.

But not this time apparently.

Of course this time she had crossed a line. _Big time_. Because of her their world was falling apart in more ways than one.

_Because of me. Because of Grunkle Stan._

She squeezes her eyes shut, suddenly dizzy and nauseous as her stomach churns and she gags. All she can see is the stars, vast and endless and a swirling vortex of rainbow light and she's back in that room, gravity trying to pull at her back, trying to lift her and carry her away, beckoning her to let go.

_It's his fault. He lied to us…but I chose to trust him. He may have been trying to save his brother, but I didn't know that. All I knew was that trusting him could've ended the world. _

Her body tingles, and she can feel the breeze brush through her hair and she swallows, terrified that she'll disappear into the vastness of space in the heart of the whirlwind of colors.

_But I can't believe that Grunkle Stan would willingly and knowingly allow all this to happen. I don't believe he would've been so desperate had he knew. But I knew. I knew it was a possibility and yet I didn't stop it._

"It's my fault," she whispers before the remains of the icy pop binge she went on this morning rushed to her throat and she can't hold it back any longer. She doubles over on her hands and knees and acidic and vaguely orange flavored liquid bubbles from her mouth to the dirt, along with something thick and metallic. She clutches at the dirt and grass, her eyes watery and closed tight as she gags and vomits.

_Let go, let go…don't fight it any longer…everything will be all right if you just let go…_

_No, no, no…_ she thinks, focusing all her energy to hold on for dear life, ignoring the faint whispers in the back of her mind. She regains control of herself and the vomiting spell stops and she releases a pathetic whine, opening her eyes to see a small puddle of partially digested icy pops, but also blood. _That's not good. _She draws a shaky breath, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she covers her mess with loose dirt and gravel before shuffling away from it.

She glances in Soos and Dipper's direction to see them staring at her and she stifles a sob, snaking her arm around her middle as she shakily pushes herself to her feet, swaying with unrelenting dizziness once she's vertical.

"Mabel, are you OK?" Dipper asks, hurrying back towards her and grasping her upper arm to hold her steady.

She nods quickly, afraid that if she answers out loud she'd just throw up again.

"You sure? You look really pale, what's wrong?"

She swallows a couple of time and forces a grin as she replies, "I think I overdid it with the popsicles this morning. I'm OK, just…so much going on, y'know? I think the stress of it all…it's getting to me."

"Did puking help?"

"I think so?"

"You don't sound like you're sure."

"I'm fine, I…I'm just regretting not having any solid food today besides sugar," she lies because she's not fine. But how could she or _anyone_ possibly be fine with everything that's going on?

No, she's not fine. She's terrified and the strange feeling inside her, the tingling, the ache, the dizziness and nausea is only getting worse instead of better, and she just vomited blood. _Blood_. That couldn't be good. But she doesn't say anything about it because their world is currently falling apart both literally and figuratively. The Mystery Shack is in ruins, Waddles and Grunkle Stan are missing, Dipper's faith in everything he's ever cared about, including her, has been shattered, Soos's truck is totalled and all of it is because _she_ let the machine stay on. The last thing they need is one more thing to worry about, especially considering she's the one who let it happen.

_But I need to say something…_

"I think I'm still a little off balance from when gravity was going all weird," she adds, "but then again who isn't?"

Dipper eyes her curiously, "What do you mean?"

"You know, the energy from the portal, the messed up gravity…you felt it too right?"

"I guess," he shrugs, "I'll probably have some colorful bruises tomorrow but…I'm still not sure what you're talking about."

"OK, so just me then?"

"Mabel you're being weird," he frowns, clearly unsure if he should be worried or annoyed. He seems to go for a little of both when he says, "You didn't hurt yourself or hit your head or something down there did you?"

"Not sure," she shrugs, "but I'm fine, really. I think throwing up helped."

Dipper sighs, rolling his eyes. His anger coming through again now that she's somehow convinced him she's OK. As he trudges back to Soos who's digging through the rubble, she wipes a tear from her eye, sad because she succeeded in convincing him so easily. Considering everything, she's not entirely surprised, nor can she blame him but it's weird for them to be so out of sync.

Normally if something was wrong with her, he was always the first to notice, sometimes even before she herself was fully aware. And despite her desire to convince him there was nothing to worry about, and she _hopes_ that's still true, that whatever is wrong will pass, a huge part of her wanted him to call her on her crap, put his arm around her and tell her that everything was going to be OK. That he forgives her, that he's sorry she had been put under so much pressure to choose and that they'll face whatever is ahead together.

Normally that's exactly what Dipper would do, but she blew it, she crossed a line, she broke the trust they shared that she thought was indestructible. It's completely selfish for her to want him to comfort her and apologize to her after what she did.

_I hope this doesn't mean things are ruined forever between us…_

"Here," Soos says, climbing out of an opening into the rubble of what was once the Gift Shop, "give her this." He tosses Dipper a bottle of water and he sighs and hands it to her. "Rescued it from the vending machine…or what's left of it."

"Thanks," Mabel murmurs, opening the bottle with trembling fingers before rinsing her mouth. "Any sign of Waddles or Stan?"

Soos shakes his head, "The opening to the basement is completely caved in. Until we clear some of the rubble, he's stuck down there."

"Assuming he's still down there and he's not hurt or worse," she sniffs.

"And I'm sorry Hambone, I can't see any sign of Waddles anywhere."

Mabel closes her eyes and nods, stifling a sob, "Maybe he got outside…he's probably fine, right?" She wants to be optimistic, and normally she is able to remain optimistic no matter how dire the situation is but not this time. _He's gone isn't he? I hope he's OK but…I just don't see how he can be._

"Yeah, of course he is!" Soos exclaims with a smile that rings false and she nods returning it with an empty grin or her own while deep down she takes a moment to grieve her lost pig, "But Mr. Pines…he's a sitting duck down there. I don't have the means to dig him out, and I need to get you dudes home. I'm worried the Government agents will get to him before we do."

"So what if they do?" Dipper mutters.

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaims, "How can you _say_ that?"

"Because he deserves it?" Dipper shrugs, "He's a criminal, look at the damage he caused! They had every right to go after him in the first place!"

"But he's our Grunkle!"

"No, he's _your_ Grunkle, Stan may be related by blood, but he's _not_ my family!" Dipper hisses.

"And you think he'll be able to do anything to redeem himself or fix his mistakes behind bars?" Mabel asks. "If Ford was right, how is he going to even try and stop whatever might be coming if he's rotting in prison? He lied to us, yeah, and he endangered us and put so much on the line, but it was to save his brother!"

"And look how great that turned out! Ford's a jerk, he _threatened_ you, he treated me like dirt and made it clear that it was a mistake for Stan to bring him back!"

"But Grunkle Stan didn't know that!"

"Ugh, after everything that's happened I can't believe you're still taking his side!" Dipper groans, gesturing grandly to the fallen Mystery Shack and the torn up forest.

"I'm not taking sides!"

"Yes you are! You should have hit the damn button Mabel, none of this would've happened!"

Mabel stumbles back a few steps, overwhelmed with dizziness as the world starts spinning and spinning and she closes her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself. More tears fall from her cheeks, "What if it was me, Dipper?"

"Huh?"

"What if I was the one lost, trapped who knows where. Tell me honestly that you wouldn't risk _everything_ to get me back!"

That seems to give Dipper pause and he goes quiet.

"Tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing for me!"

"It's not the same," he says finally.

"You think so, huh?" Mabel asks, raising a skeptical brow. But she can see in Dipper's eyes that she had made her point and it was something to really think about.

She turns and starts to walk away, distancing herself from her brother. There's a heavy silence pressing down on them as sirens wail in the distance but none of them seem to be heading their way. She swallows hard moving further and further away from him while in the back of her mind she wonders just how far the damage the portal caused went.

"No matter what Stan's intentions were, you didn't know that!" Dipper calls after her after a moment, "All you knew is that you could have destroyed the universe! You knew that, you knew Stan was a lying, thieving con artist with a Doomsday device and yet you still chose to trust him instead of me!"

"That's not true!" Mabel snaps, stopping in her tracks, "Well, maybe part of it is but it was _never_ a choice between you or Stan, OK? If that were the case it would be you, always you! But I _had_ to trust Grunkle Stan, I _had _to! He was desperate and I couldn't believe, I _still_ can't believe he would do anything to bring us harm on purpose, not without a good reason!" Her body is tingling with energy that buzzes and pulses and tugs and she holds herself tighter before she could be torn in two even as it brings more pain to flare within her.

"Yeah but if he just told us…if you just shut the machine off then…"

Mabel cuts him off before he can continue, wanting, _needing_ for him to see her point of view, "There's still so much we don't know about that machine, about any of this and I had _seconds_ to decide, I listened to my heart and maybe it was wrong, but in that moment I _knew_ that Grunkle Stan had never been more honest than when he was asking me to trust him! For all we knew we had it all wrong and pressing the button would've been what destroyed us all!

"The weight of the entire universe was on my shoulders and I only had seconds to decide, don't you get it? And I had no way of knowing what the right answer was and I had to listen to my instincts, I _had _to because...because…" she stops and swallows back the blood and bile that suddenly pushes up her throat, "Man, Dipper…do you have _any_ idea of how _hard_ it was? Maybe it seemed easy to you but…"

She can't keep it down any more, despite her best efforts, and she turns away, doubling over as she gags, choking up more blood than last time. Her eyes widen in panic at the red pool forming on the ground in front of her and she's trembling so much now, from throwing up, from pain, from dizziness, from all the stress and emotion and uncertainty and she wants it to _stop_.

_Let go, let go…don't fight it any longer…everything will be all right if you just let go!_

Mabel gives a small shriek of frustration to drown out the barely audible whisper in the back of her mind, staggering back a few steps. She wipes the blood and spit from her mouth with her hand, slowly turning around to see Dipper and Soos staring at her with concern unsure if they should go to see if she's OK or give her some space, but also a figure emerging from the trees.

"Grunkle Stan!" she gasps, surprised and relieved. She wants to run to him, but she can't move. It's taking all her energy just to remain on her feet let alone walk two steps. The world seems to be tipping over and the distance between her and everyone else seems to be expanding as everyone drifts in and out of focus.

Dipper and Soos follow her line of sight, turning away from her to watch Stan head in their direction. Stan seems relieved to see they're OK, but then his eyes go to the Shack and his shoulders sag with despair as he moves to the remains of what had once been his home.

"How…?" Dipper asks.

"Emergency escape hatch in the woods," he explains quietly, "it only opens from the inside. What are you guys still doing here?"

"Can't go very far until I fix my truck or find another means of transportation that isn't destroyed," Soos says.

Stan looks around, awestruck by the damage. He turns back to the ruins of the former Mystery Shack, approaching it in disbelief, "I can't believe it's gone. My…my home, my life…"

"Did you know this would happen?" Dipper hisses accusingly, "You owe us an explanation, _now_ Stanley! Tell us _everything_!"

"Guys…" Mabel whispers meekly, swaying as the world keeps spinning. It's worse now, so much worse and it's terrifying. Their voices sound hollow and tinny and they seem to be drifting further away from her. It's like she's looking at them from underwater and she can't breathe and it's hot and electric and her vision is wavering and she's struggling to remain focused on her surroundings and on her feet.

"As I said to Mabel, I'll tell you everything you need to know and soon, but first things first I have to get you kids away from here."

"Why, _we're_ not the ones wanted by the government agents!" Dipper retorts, "You are!"

"It's not just that Dipper…please! I can't do anything else until I know you kids are safe and the only way that can happen is to get you out of Gravity Falls before…"

"Before what?"

"Guys…I think…something's wrong…" Mabel whispers, blinking heavily and seeing the rainbow vortex opening in her mind and it scares her. She wants to raise her voice, get their attention because there's no denying or hiding whatever is wrong with her now, whether she likes it or not. But she can barely find her voice to speak and she reaches out for them even though they're a good thirty, forty feet away from her.

"Before something bad happens to you! If something got through the portal, if Ford's right about me kick-starting the apocalypse…this is my problem to fix and I don't want you kids getting hurt!" Stan snaps back. "Soos, I need you to get these kids and yourself to safety, can you fix your truck?"

"I don't have the time or resources to…"

"What about my car?"

"Guys…Dipper…help me…"

"Look around you! Do you think your car would be in any better shape than Soos's truck?" Dipper hisses.

Stan pinches the bridge of his nose, "Look kid, I screwed up. Maybe I shouldn't have lied to you but…"

"Guys!" Mabel manages to raise her voice this time, loud enough for them to hear but still incredibly weak, "Please stop…fighting…s-something's…wrong…"

Her eyes flutter and roll back as she suddenly gags, and more blood bubbles from her throat to her mouth. She can't keep it in anymore.

"Mabel?" Dipper's eyes widen in shock.

"H-help…m-me…" she chokes out as the strange and painful energy surging through her body strikes again. She feels gravity pulling at her back, trying to rip her away from everyone and tear her apart as the swirling vortex of color and light opens to reveal the vast and endless stars as voices whisper in her head.

_Let go, let go…_

And she tries so hard to hold on, because the terrible beauty of the stars frighten her so much because she knows that if she lets go she'll fade away. So she fights it, she fights it with everything she has to hold on but it's so hard!

_Don't fight it any longer…everything will be all right if you just let go!_

_No, no, no!_

"MABEL!" Dipper cries.

Her eyes flutter open and she can vaguely see him rushing towards her but it's too late. She's already falling and falling and falling…

_I'm sorry…_

She didn't mean to, but she let go.

Her knees buckle and she collapses hard onto the ground, dropping like a stone.

But the world still spins and spins and gravity pulls and pulls her further and further away from herself up, up and away into an endless void of nothingness.

A new voice rings through her mind, familiar and frightening but different from the distant whispers that had beckoned to her.

_"Hello Shooting Star…took you long enough!"_

* * *

A/N As always, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, good or bad. I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories and whatnot. It always makes me so happy!


	5. Limbo

A/N You guys are the absolute best! Thank you so much for the wonderful support and feedback, it means the world to me! Anyway, stay tuned for an important announcement after the show-er chapter.

Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

**Limbo**

"Hello Shooting Star, took you long enough."

The voice surprises her and frightens her, and she twirls around to face the source of the voice, realizing that she's floating through an endless void. She turns but there's nothing there and she wonders briefly if she imagined it.

_Mabel! No, no, no…wake up! C'mon stay with me…stay with me…she's so…she's so cold… Mabel!_

"Dipper?" she turns and looks frantically. Her brother's voice is so distant and she can barely hear it, but she can hear the pain and desperation in his voice and it worries her, "Dipper! I'm here! Where are you?"

_What's wrong with her?... She…No….What are you…?...THIS YOUR FAULT! You hear me?...No…stay away from us!_

"Dipper!" she calls, straining to hear her brother's voice, the pain and the rage. He sounds so lost and she can't stand to hear him sound so incredibly miserable. He's speaking to someone but his is the only voice she hears.

The voice fades away and is replaced by laughter, and she feels a hand on her shoulder causing her to startle as she turns to face the culprit. "YOU!" she snaps, "What did you do to me? Where am I?"

"OK first of all, I didn't do anything to you Shooting Star, so don't be so snippy," Bill Cipher replies, rolling his one eye, "seriously, there's no need to be rude. Secondly, welcome to Limbo."

"Limbo?"

"Yeah, Limbo, for lack of a better word anyway as it doesn't exactly have a name per se," Bill shrugs.

"Meaning….?"

"You're dying."

"I am not you liar!"

Bill laughs, "Oh yeah? See for yourself…" he grabs her hand before she can say anything and the endless blackness flashes white and she's back in the yard outside the ruins of Mystery Shack. The surroundings seem to be drained of all colour except for her and the yellow triangle demon, but she hardly notices it because the moment her eyes rest on her brother, nothing else seems to matter.

He's on his knees, tears are streaking down his face and Mabel's a little unnerved to see him cradling her body in his arms. There's something wrong with the picture, besides the fact that she indeed looks like she's dead, a thought that terrifies her especially if it means her soul has ended up…here. Or in that endless void, Limbo or whatever Bill wants to call it, which is worse. Actually she can't decide which is worse, an endless void of isolation or having to watch her brother suffer at her loss. Her body is surrounded by what looks like faint wisps of smoke, tendrils of various shades of grey that seems to swirl around her body, poking and prodding.

"Mabel please, hold on…stay with me!" he begs, shaking her slightly in his arms in hopes to rouse her.

"Dipper!" she calls, "I'm right here!"

"Oh come on now, obviously he can't see or hear you," Bill scoffs.

"Dipper," Grunkle Stan says, he's standing a few feet away and slowly approaches them with caution, "I need to…"

"I said stay away from us!" Dipper screams, cradling Mabel's body closer to him, "This is all on you! Don't you get it? This is all your fault! She _trusted_ you man, and…you did this to her!"

"What…what's wrong with me?" Mabel asks, glancing at Bill as she crouches down in front of them, studying her body's pale face with morbid fascination. The longer she looks at the smoke, the more it seems to take on a vague shape, almost human like. "I don't look like I'm hurt but…"

"That's the thing with internal bleeding," Bill says, "it's not all that visible right away. I admit I'm surprised you held on as long as you did, you're stronger than I thought. Believe me when I say it takes a lot to surprise me, so kudos to you."

"Internal bleeding? How?"

"When you let that clock reach zero there was an explosion of energy kid, energy that you took on full force," Bill explains, as though she should've already had that figured out. "Now you're slowly bleeding to death from the inside out." He laughs, like it's the funniest thing he's heard all day.

Mabel shakes her head, "No…no I don't believe you. This is a trick, it has to be."

"Go ahead and think that, I'm not going to waste my time convincing you of something that's right there in front of you. Denial doesn't make it any less true."

"What's with the smoke?" she asks, realizing now that when the smoke touches her body she can feel it, like a faint tingling buzz of electricity. No one seems aware of it, but it explains why she felt so strange. She watches Soos return from his broken truck holding a blanket as he jogs back to the scene draping the blanket over her body.

"That's not smoke, Shooting Star," Bill shrugs, "those are Wraiths."

"You mean like ghosts?"

"Kinda, but they're a special kind of ghost and potentially far more dangerous than anything you'd encounter here," he replies, laughing. "They are what was on the other side of the portal."

"So something else _did_ get through!"

"And here I thought Pine Tree was the master detective between the two of you," Bill quips sarcastically, "of _course_ something got through. Lots of somethings actually, it's just these ones decided to latch onto the first thing they came across, namely you."

"What do they…what are they doing to me?"

"You really are dense aren't you? What do you think they're doing?"

Mabel glares at Bill, "Just tell me!"

"OK, OK, yeesh," Bill exclaims, raising his stick arms up in mock surrender, "for such a cheerful and upbeat kid you sure can get cranky! You only brought all this on yourself, no need to turn on me, I didn't do this to you."

"That's still up for debate!"

Bill laughs, "Ironic coming from _you_."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, we wouldn't be here if you weren't so gosh darned _trusting._"

"And why should I trust _you_? After everything you've done? You invaded Grunkle Stan's mind, you tricked my brother and possessed him, you _hurt_ my brother and all to steal the journal! You _hurt _my _brother_!" Mabel snaps, and she swears she sees Dipper raise his head and look directly at her, almost like he heard her, before returning his attention to her body. The Wraiths or whatever is encircling her body stop and notice her. She can see a face forming in the grey mist surrounding her, and it looks angry.

"But I've never lied to you," Bill tells her.

"That's a lie right there!"

"Ah, ah, ah," he hovers away from her angry advances, wagging a finger at her, "I may be deceitful through omission or manipulation or whatever, because who doesn't love a good loophole? But I will not tell a straight up lie."

Mabel folds her arms, turning her attention back to her family. Soos had disappeared around the corner to get the golf cart and apparently managed to get it working again. It too apparently sustained serious damage when the portal opened, the roof and the frame all bent out of shape, but it's fortunately still drivable.

"Soos!" Dipper exclaims as he drives it around the corner towards them, "You're awesome!"

"I don't know how far it'll get us, dude," Soos says, "but if it gets us closer to town we can probably borrow a working car."

"Anyway, if you must know," Bill sighs, speaking over them unnoticed to all but Mabel, "the Wraiths are draining all your energy, feeding off your soul. Inter-dimensional travel zaps a lot of energy so they're using you to gather strength. Plus they'll need a vessel if they're to y'know, bring forth the Apocalypse."

"And by vessel you mean…"

"You."

Mabel feels sick at the thought, which is weird because for all intents and purposes she's a ghost, and ghosts shouldn't be able to feel sick, right? _No…no that can't be..._

"I don't think they counted on you being so strong, strong enough to fight back as long as you did, so there's that. You should be proud kid and—Shooting Star I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

"Get _away_ from me!" Mabel hisses suddenly floating towards the Wraiths engulfing her body with fury, _I am _not_ going to be used that way! _"Find another vessel and stay away from me and my family!"

The Wraiths turn, taking form as a tall human-like figure and before Mabel can go in for the attack they retaliate, long wispy fingers slicing through her, cutting at her spirit-form like knives and she screams in agony, the pain unlike anything she's ever felt before reaching deep, deep in her soul. Meanwhile her body convulses, coughing up more blood.

"Mabel, hey!" Dipper cries in panic, turning her on her side so she doesn't choke to death on her own blood, "Hey, hey, stay with me…please Mabel…please!"

"We need to hurry," Soos says.

"There's no way that stinking golf cart is going to get her to the hospital in time," Stan's voice is thick with remorse and determination. "I'm not even sure it'll make it to the main road."

"Dipper!" Mabel calls out to her brother as she dodges the Wraiths' next assault. Her ghost flies towards her body and she closes her eyes, grabbing hold tight until she can suddenly feel everything again. She coughs and sputters and chokes, fluttering her eyes open to see Dipper's worried face looking down at her. He's in colour now and Bill's nowhere to be seen, neither are the Wraiths, though she can feel their invisible claws tearing at her, sending the strange electric energy to surge through her.

In the back of her mind she can hear their voices whispering to her, only instead of sounding almost soothing yet unsettling like before, they sound angry and vicious.

_Let go…let go…stop fighting and maybe we'll spare your brother!_

"Mabel! Hey, can you hear me?"

"D-Dipper…" she gasps, the taste of blood in her mouth makes her stomach roll with nausea, she immediately realizes she doesn't have much time to warn everyone of what's happening, "Wr-wrai…"

She feels something cold wrap around her and pull and she's yanked forcibly from her body, Bill's stick figure hand wrapped tightly around hers and the next thing she knows she's being pulled from the black and white surrealness of the Mindscape back through the swirling rainbow vortex into the void of Limbo.

"What are you doing?!" she cries, "Let me go!"

"Believe it or not Shooting Star, I'm protecting you!" Bill snaps.

"But…why would you do that?" Mabel sobs, realizing where she is. She was wrong before, this is worse than the Mindscape, this endless nothing surrounding her is almost suffocating. At least in the Mindscape she can be with her family, even if it has to be as a ghost but this… "Dipper!" she calls, but it's useless. "Take me back!"

"Why so the Wraiths can destroy you? Is that really what you want? Better to remain trapped here and maybe, just _maybe_ have a chance at coming out of this with your soul intact, maybe even by some miracle _alive_ than to try and fight them on their turf where they can _slaughter_ you, not just your physical body, but also your soul. Do you want that?"

"But I don't understand…why would you bother protecting me? It doesn't make sense."

Bill chuckles, "Obviously because you still may be of _use_ to me."

"Use to you how? Why me?"

"Gee you sure are _nosy_. It's not because you're special or anything, because you're not. The Wraiths only chose you because of your close proximity to the portal, and you're not much of a bargaining chip if even your soul is dead."

Mabel looks away, terrified and angry and hopeless.

"Say, I have an idea! How about we make a deal, eh?" Bill offers, floating in her line of sight moving with her as she tries in vain to look away.

"Forget it!" Mabel screams, "Leave me alone!"

"You're not even going to listen to what I have to say?"

"GO AWAY BILL!"

"Trust me," Bill snickers tauntingly, almost like he's mimicking Grunkle Stan, "You gotta trust me…you'll like what I have to offer…"

"Yeah but it's what you'll want in return that I'm worried about," Mabel hisses, "GO AWAY!"

"Fine, if that's what you want," Bill Cipher shrugs with a mock sigh, tearing a triangle-shaped hole into the void before disappearing through it.

The silence that follows is deafening, and Mabel hugs herself as she looks around at the infinite blackness that surrounds her. She sniffs and tears fall from her eyes, falling up to float around her. She's not even amongst the stars that had once frightened her, and now she wishes she could be there because that, that would be something. But this? This _prison_ she finds herself in is nothing but total seclusion.

She doesn't know how long she drifts in the infinite nothing, curled in a foetal position, hugging herself as she sobs, completely alone, so alone Bill Cipher would almost be welcome company. It could be hours, days, weeks, she honestly can't tell how much time passes before she stops crying and eventually starts singing to herself. It's soft at first, nothing in particular, just humming a sad random tune. But then she starts to belt, singing every song she can think of, from "Don't Start Un-Believing" to "Disco Girl" and even "Straight Blanchin'" and she even tries to throw a dance in, but it's weird when she's floating in zero gravity, and she somehow somersaults in the void until it makes her dizzy so she gives up and decides to stick with singing to pass the time and combat the crippling, unrelenting loneliness that threatens to consume her.

"Friday night and we're gonna party 'til dawn. Don't worry Daddy, I got my favorite dress on!" she sings loudly and off key into the abyss, "We don't care what they say and all the boys are getting up in my face! Boys are a bore, let's show them the door, we're taking over the dance floor! Oh-oh, taking over tonight, WOAH-OH, girls do what they like! Something, something something, we do what we like! WOAH-OH taking over toniiiiggghhtt!"

She stops singing suddenly, the song bringing back memories. Happy memories of the time she and Grunkle Stan and Dipper, her two favorite people, got to sing karaoke together and even defeat some zombies in the process. She forces herself to smile at the memory, but it's empty, as empty as her attempts at distracting herself through song. Even though the memory is a happy one, it only makes her sad because that's all it can ever be now, a memory. And with everything that happened, there's no chance of ever making more memories like that one, especially considering she's stuck here in the literal middle of nowhere and meanwhile who knows what's happening with Dipper and Grunkle Stan and the rest of Gravity Falls.

The tears start coming again, and she closes her eyes, burying her face in her hands, "Dipper's right, I should've just hit the button… None of this would've happened if I just shut the machine off. I wish…I wish I listened to Dipper and hit that stupid shut-off switch…"

"Oh really! That so?" Bill exclaims happily, appearing out of nowhere. "I was hoping you'd say that! Today's your lucky day kid!"

"Wait, what?" Mabel exclaims in surprise as Bill grabs her hand and shakes it.

"Deal!" Bill declares, a little _too_ eagerly, and before Mabel can even process his sudden reappearance, let alone register what just happened, everything goes white.

"Look into my eyes Mabel, do you really think I'm a bad guy?" Grunkle Stan pleads desperately.

Mabel's so startled to find herself back in the portal room, back at that moment with seconds left on the clock that she almost accidentally lets go of the switch and she gasps in surprise. _How…?_ She can feel gravity tugging and pulling her towards the portal, just as before, the strange energy in the room, just as before, and she looks up at Grunkle Stan, Dipper and Soos, still trying to figure out how she ended up back _here _because she doesn't recall agreeing to any deal.

"He's lying! Shut it down NOW!"

"Mabel please!"

-10 seconds to go-

"Grunkle Stan…" she says looking him in the eyes, seeing the sincerity, the desperation, the _need_ to let the portal open so he can see his brother again. And she wants to help him, she wants so badly to be able to let it happen, but she's wiser now. The consequences of letting the clock reach zero are too great and she closes her eyes, turning her head away, "I'm sorry."

"Mabel NO!" Stan cries out in despair as she slams her fist on the button and something about it just seems _wrong._

_What have I done? What have I done?_

* * *

A/N Edit: THIS IS NOT THE END! There's more to come. I say this because I guess it wasn't clear since a couple of people were asking. No, I have a feeling we've only just begun...muahaha!

Gahh! This chapter was so hard to write! Bill Cipher is so hard to write! He's such an interesting character, but I never thought I'd dare attempt to write him because he's so hard to write! Hope I did him justice! Remember, reality is an illusion...

Anyway, while writing this story I find myself faced with a bit of a dilemma. As you know it was intended to be a one shot, but my muse decided to keep going and to keep with the style of the first chapter, I decided to keep it all from Mabel's point of view. The problem is that at this point in the story, it goes in two different directions as Dipper has his own story to tell, and I really want to tell it, but I think at this point, switching POV would interrupt not just the style, but also the overall flow of the story. So I'm writing a yet to be titled companion piece to this, not quite a prequel or a sequel more like a...quel? Midquel? Blaarggg! Whatever, a companion story that I hope can stand on its own (along with this one) but will hopefully compliment this story. So yeah, keep an eye out for that if you're interested in seeing Dipper's story because so much is happening while Mabel is in Limbo.

Well, once again thanks for reading! I would love to hear what you think! Reviews feed the muse you know! ;-) Well, until next time y'all! I hope to update soon!


	6. Alternate

A/N OK, because I'm kinda like Dipper in the sense that I can be paranoid sometimes, I've been fretting probably more than I should that I lost readers due to the last chapter because it is such a drastic change from where the story seemed to be headed but trust me, I'm going somewhere with this!

Thanks as always to my wonderful reviewers and to all those who are following this and put this on their favourites! It truly means a lot to me!

Hope everyone has/had a Happy Easter!

_EDIT 7/30/2015_

Enjoy!

* * *

**Alternate**

When Mabel slams her fist on the portal's shutdown switch, she's not sure what to expect. But the moment the button is pressed there is a powerful surge of energy and the portal acts like a vacuum, sucking everything that's not tied down towards it. She holds on tight for dear life, the pull of the machine so strong she can barely hold on until her grip slips and she's suddenly flying through the air. The portal closes as she reaches it and she slams hard against the machine and crumples to the ground, momentarily stunned as gravity suddenly returns.

When she opens her eyes she sees Dipper, Stan and Soos picking themselves up from on the floor. Her gaze meets Stan's and she immediately has to look away. He looks completely devastated and it's her fault. _I'm sorry, if you only knew…_

"Dudes OK?" Soos asks after a moment.

"Yeah," Dipper winces, climbing to his feet and dusting himself off before jogging towards Mabel who still sits in stunned silence. "Mabel, you OK?"

She has to think about it. Her body aches all over, but it's not like it was before when she let the portal open. This pain feels more like normal bruises, not internal bleeding or invisible wraiths sending strange painful but not painful tingling sensations to pulse through her. It hurts, but she'll take it over the alternative. "Y-yeah," she replies, taking Dipper's hand as he pulls her to her feet and she nearly topples over when her leg can't seem to hold her weight. "Ow! Ow, ow _ow_!" she hisses, glancing down at her feet to see a swollen ankle.

_I guess this means this is real_, she thinks, because a part of her had been uncertain. A dream surely wouldn't hurt this much. She tries not to think about the implications though, because she did _not_ agree to any deal with Bill Cipher, and she doesn't want to think about what he'll be expecting in return for this do-over.

Dipper takes her arm and drapes it across his back to help her keep her weight off her injured foot, "You sure about that, sis?" he asks with a concerned smirk.

She smiles, clutching her brother's shoulder to stay balanced. _You have no idea! _She'll take a sprained ankle and some colourful bruises over life threatening and supernatural injuries any day, "I'm good."

Stan stands on the opposite side of the room, staring at the portal, his expression blank but his eyes glistening with raw hurt. "Do you have _any_ idea what you've _done_?" he asks, his voice strangely quiet and steady considering he looks like a dam about to burst.

Mabel looks away quickly—_I'm so sorry—_unable to look him in the eyes. She couldn't bear to see the pure devastation in them and is so ashamed and sad for hurting him, especially since she knows exactly what she's done. She kept him from reuniting with his brother. She condemned her own great uncle to remain wherever he had been trapped for the last thirty years, and no matter how much of a jerk he might have been, no matter how much he might have insisted that he shouldn't be saved, his imprisonment is on her hands now. But freeing him would've cost everyone so much, not just her own life, but everyone's. Still, the guilt presses down on her, leaving her shaking.

"Yeah, she just saved the _world_ no thanks to you!" Dipper answers, his voice a mix of anger at Stan and pride for his sister. He sideways glances at her, his eyes rich with concern as he tightens his hold on her silently asking if she's OK.

_I'm OK…_ Selfishly she's relieved to see no anger or hurt directed towards her in his eyes, that in this reality their bond hasn't been broken because of her choice. Their seemingly unbreakable bond remains intact, but it comes at the cost of the happiness of another and she's immediately feels terrible for indulging in that relief.

"I'm sorry Grunkle Stan," she says, "I trust you, I know you're not a bad guy but…" she squeezes her eyes shut, not wanting to lie to him, but she knows that the truth would most likely hurt him too much. "I couldn't take such a big risk," she says finally.

Stan sighs, his shoulders sagged in defeat, "I know, I understand. Considering all you kids probably discovered about me today, I can't say I blame you. Maybe if you knew what this was all for then…but it's OK sweetie, you didn't know."

His words strike her in the heart and she nearly slides from Dipper's grip to fall to her knees because she _did_ know, and she wants to explain the truth to him so badly, that if she let the portal open, they'd lose _everything_ and a dangerous entity would be unleashed and eventually put everyone at risk. Maybe he would understand, but it wouldn't make it any better so she keeps quiet, figuring it's better this way.

_Oh Grunkle Stan…this would probably be easier if you were mad at me._

"Then tell us," Dipper snaps, "I think maybe now is the time you explain yourself. Tell us everything Grunkle Stan, if that's really who you are! You owe us that."

Stan nods quietly, "Yeah…yeah I suppose I do."

"Maybe we should get out of here first, hey guys?" Mabel asks, forcing a smile, "I mean, there's still the government people to worry about, right?"

With a heavy sigh Stan slowly walks towards the portal. It's broken, but not nearly as severely damaged as it was the first time around and for a moment Mabel thinks maybe they can still somehow save Ford without risking the world. Stan pauses when he sees Journal #1 on the ground amongst the debris and he picks it up, holding it to his chest. When he gets to the switch he falls to his knees, his shoulders slump in pure defeat and he bows his head as though in prayer. It breaks Mabel's heart to see him like this.

"I failed you," Stan whispers quietly to himself, placing the first journal on the floor in front of him, resting his hand over the six-fingered hand insignia on the cover, "I am so, so sorry."

She can't take it anymore so she releases herself from Dipper's supporting grip and hobbles towards him, kneeling down beside him resting her hand on his shoulder. She glances behind her at Dipper who stays in place, his anger deflating slightly while Soos moves to stand by her brother.

"Grunkle Stan?" she murmurs quietly, "Maybe we should go…the agents…"

"What's the point? It's over. Everything I've worked for. Thirty years and it's all…it's all over."

"What was this machine for?" Dipper asks gently, any sign of anger and betrayal all but gone. She knows he's still angry, but he's put it aside for now, "The journals said it could tear the universe apart, is that true?" It surprises Mabel that Dipper could suddenly be so understanding, considering how furious he was in the other reality, but then again in that reality his whole world came crashing down, while in this one it didn't, not entirely. Besides, Stan looks like he's completely given up. On hope, on life, on _everything._

"It was a portal…I…I don't think you'd understand, kids," Grunkle Stan sighs. He glances up and turns towards them, turning around so he's facing everyone. He gives Mabel a wan smile and pats her on the shoulder, his eyes glancing back and forth between her and Dipper, "But on the other hand, maybe you would…" He takes off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose and heaves another heavy sigh,"Soos, do me a favor will ya?"

Soos looks a little torn, and Mabel half expects him to quit like last time, but this isn't like last time. Last time Stan was a traitor, but in this reality he's a sad, misunderstood old man who did some questionable things and kept some big secrets and has a _lot_ of explaining to do. Soos seems a little betrayed, but still willing to hear Stan out, "What do you need Mr. Pines?"

"Take the kids upstairs, maybe get some ice for Mabel's ankle and get yourselves patched up," he says, "I…I need to be alone for a few minutes, OK? I promise though that I'll be right up, and I'll explain everything. Just give me a moment…"

"Grunkle Stan…I'm sorry," Mabel whispers.

"I know you are sweetie, I know," he nods sadly, unable to look her in the eyes, "you were just doing what you thought was right."

Mabel wishes he'd be angry with her, it would make the guilt she feels for making him feel this way a little easier. Even knowing first-hand the consequences of letting the portal open, she somehow can't bring herself to fully believe that shutting the machine down was right. _Neither choice was right. Either I condemn Ford to remain trapped in the portal and break Grunkle Stan's heart, or I condemn myself to become a vessel for those Wraiths that will use me to destroy everyone. I guess this is the lesser of two evils, but…it still feels wrong._

Her thoughts drift to Bill Cipher and she tries not to think about the deal she unwittingly made. He seemed far too eager to help her and she doubts it was out of the goodness of his triangle-shaped heart. _What does he have to gain from this?_

"Come on, Hambone," Soos says, interrupting her thoughts and she's surprised to see him standing over them. He takes her hand and lifts her up in his strong arms to carry her piggy-back style, "Let's go fix you kids up, OK?"

"Yeah," she replies, clutching his shirt as Dipper leads the way back to the elevator.

When they get upstairs Mabel sees that despite the fact she shut the portal down, the Shack still sustained serious damage, but not as bad as last time. She's relieved to see that Soos doesn't seem too worried about the structural damage, though he left her and Dipper alone to assess the damage more thoroughly from the outside. But if anyone would know if the Mystery Shack was in danger, it was him. Stan on the other hand…_Will _he_ be OK?_

Mabel supposes she should be happy, and even grateful for the chance at a do-over, because even though condemning Grunkle Ford to remain trapped feels so very wrong, the alternative was so much worse. Besides, Ford didn't want Grunkle Stan to save him, and he knew better than anyone why. And Dipper, while still clearly betrayed and upset, isn't completely devastated by what transpired. He's more open to hearing Stan out, and has no reason to feel betrayed by Mabel so his faith is still intact which means he'll be OK. So will Soos. And Grunkle Stan…he should be OK too eventually, right?

"Earth to Mabel!" Dipper exclaims, waving a hand in front of her face, breaking her out of her deep thoughts. She's almost surprised to see that she's now sitting at the kitchen table, her foot propped up on Dipper's lap as he tries to wrap it.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Is this too tight?"

She looks at the bandage partially wrapped around her injured ankle and nods, "It's fine, thanks. Sorry I guess I zoned out for a minute there. Blaarggh! Silly me!" she forces a grin.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Dipper asks, furrowing his brow with concern, "You seem awfully quiet and that's not like you."

Mabel nods, "Yeah…yeah I'm fine. Just…thinking."

"About Stan and everything?" he guesses as he finishes tending to her injury. She nods. "Yeah, it's a lot to take in…I still can't believe he had the other two journals the whole time. Stan _knows_ how much the journal means to me. And who is he? If Stan Pines is supposed to be dead then…?"

"He's still our Grunkle," Mabel says with confidence.

"Do we know that for sure?" Dipper scoffs.

"Even if he isn't, he still cares about us, he's proven that so that's gotta count for something. Besides, he's obviously a Pines, he's even got the trademark cowlick and everything, so he's still family. Maybe he faked his death or something, or maybe there's more to what we discovered about him than what it seems," Mabel replies in his defense.

"Maybe," Dipper muses, "but admit it, even you have your doubts."

"I did," Mabel concedes, "but I changed my mind. I know he's not an imposter and I know he didn't build a Doomsday device."

"But the Government Agents said…"

"They don't know Grunkle Stan like we do," Mabel says, "he would never do that. Not without a good reason."

"And what could possibly justify putting the universe at risk?"

"He just wanted to—" she catches herself before she can say too much, "I don't know, but it's probably something really important. We'll just have to wait for Grunkle Stan to explain everything like he said he would."

"He did seem really upset that we shut that machine down, I know it was important to him, whatever it was," Dipper sighs, "but the journals clearly stated how dangerous activating it would be. I just don't understand why he would…"

Mabel interrupts him suddenly with a surprised groan when a sharp pain strikes her in the chest, the same spot the Wraiths had struck her when she was a ghost trying to defend her body in the other reality.

"Mabel? What's wrong?"

She tries to answer but she can't. She can feel the colour drain from her face and the next thing she knows she's falling.

"Mabel!" Dipper cries, but he sounds like she's listening to him from underwater.

_Let go…let go…stop fighting us…_

Suddenly everything hurts, her nerves pulse and tingle with painful energy and she can feel the Wraiths clawing at her and she tries with all her strength to fight them.

Someone is forcing her eyes open and shining an intense bright light directly into her eyes as a cacophony of sounds ring through her ears. People in the background talking, shouting orders with urgency, a loud buzz and beeping noises that she can't figure out.

"Mabel," a strange voice asks, one she has never heard before, "can you hear me?"

_Let go…stop fighting…surrender and maybe we'll spare your brother!_

"BP's dropping, we're losing her!" another voice exclaims as she gags at the taste of blood in her mouth and her eyes roll back and once again she's falling, falling, falling…

"Mabel, Mabel please, stay with me! Hold on!"

_I'm sorry, Dipper…I'm trying…_

_Let go…let go…_

_No…I will not be your vessel!_

She's floating in a vast nothingness, completely and utterly alone.

_Let's make a deal, shall we Shooting Star?_

Falling…falling…falling…

She groans and blinks open her eyes to see the concerned face of Dipper leaning over her, lightly patting her cheek. He stops when he notices her opening her eyes. "Hmmm? What happened?"

"You fainted," Dipper looks like a nervous wreck. "Why didn't you say something?"

She winces, realizing she's lying on the kitchen floor, "Huh?"

"You should've said something was wrong! Did you hit your head down there, is that it?"

"I don't think so…I…I'm fine…" she whispers shakily, trying to get her bearings. _What was that? A dream? Is _this_ a dream?_

"People don't pass out when they're fine, Mabel," Dipper chides, "What's going on with you?"

_Good question, bro-bro._

"Honestly," she pushes herself to a sitting position, "I'm OK. A little overwhelmed maybe, and a _lot_ embarrassed. Other than the ankle and some bruises, I'm fine." _Definitely better than I had been before. _"Help me up?"

Dipper sighs and takes her hand, "Don't want to tell me? Fine, whatever, but don't scare me like that!" He helps pull her to her feet and makes her sit.

"I'm sorry," she says, "if I knew what happened, I would tell you. Believe me. Things just got a little wibbly-wobbly for a second there, but I'm OK now."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the damage to the Shack is pretty bad, but it's fixable, things sure are a mess outside though," Soos cuts in, entering the kitchen and joining them at the table, "Mr. Pines still hasn't come up yet?"

"Not yet," Dipper frowns.

"I think we should go check on him," Mabel offers, absently chewing on her hair nervously as she tends to do when faced with an overwhelming problem, and this whole scenario takes the cake as far as problems go. _What does Bill have to gain from this? Why was he so eager to make a deal? Is this even real? And if it is…there's got to be some catch!_ "I'll go."

"Uh, _no_ you're not!" Dipper exclaims, clearly still not satisfied by her insistence of being OK. "You need to take it easy right now."

"Dipper I'm…"

"If you say you're fine one more time I _swear_, Mabel…"

She sticks her tongue out at him and blows a raspberry. He rolls his eyes at her, but she catches the ghost of a smile on his lips. She can't help but return the smile with a muted grin.

"He seemed really upset that we stopped that machine," Soos muses after a moment, "I don't think I've ever seen him like that, he's so _sad_. Even though I'm kinda mad at him for all the secrets and lies, I can't help but be a little worried about him."

"Yeah well, he brought it on himself," Dipper huffs, "I mean, what was that machine anyway and what the heck is so important that he'd put the whole world at risk?"

"It was a portal, it was to save my brother," Stan confesses, interrupting him as he seems to suddenly appear at the doorway. He looks old, older than he did just this morning. And defeated.

"Your brother?" Dipper looks caught somewhere between skeptical and confused, "Wait, what?"

"It's a long story…"

* * *

A/N Thanks for reading, please, if it's not too much trouble let me know what you think, good or bad. I'd love to hear any thoughts or theories or whatever that y'all might have. Reviews feed the muse and she's hungry! Huuunnnnggrrryyyyy! :-)


	7. Reality

_**Edit 9/30/2015 Well after much procrastinating I've finally finished fixing the backstory to contain the Stan-switch. It was far more problematic than I realized and while I wanted to stick with my original plan/backstory, it just plain made no sense anymore now that the identity switch was included. It's now closer to the show's backstory but with a few differences here and there. Sorry for taking so long to fix I had a lot going on but it's done now. Yay! The rest of the chapters will be fixed soon, so forgive the continuity errors for now. **_

A/N Holy Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel Batman! I am getting through these chapters QUICKLY! It usually takes me much, much longer to get a chapter finished and posted but hot dang it I am on a roll! Part of it is thanks to you guys making my muse all happy, plus I actually for the first time in a very, very long time have free time to spare, so that helps, and I just really need to fill the void between episodes, y'know? I simply can't WAIT to see what Alex has in store for us! I can't even begin to guess what he's planning, I've got a ton of theories, a couple of them are addressed here in this story, even though they're probably way off, but I know whatever Alex has planned is going to be awesome. He hasn't failed us yet! Even at it's worst "Gravity Falls" is the best cartoon on television right now, heck best show period. Just had to throw that out there. Also, you guys need to check out the you tube channel "Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel" if you haven't already, as a spoilerphobe, it's the only GF related you tube show I watch. I think I had too much caffeine, I'm babbling again...

Shout out to gravityfalls22 for such awesome reviews that always make me smile. I love your musings, they're fantastic! Also to skyler02 and xfallenangel13x for reviewing (almost) every chapter despite being newcomers to this story. Loved reading your thoughts as you read through my story so far.

Thanks to EVERYONE who has read, reviewed, favorited and followed this. It means the world to me!

* * *

**Reality**

Everyone watches Stan pace back and forth in the kitchen as he seems to try and come up with the right words to explain what he had been up to.

"Anytime now," Dipper frowns impatiently and Mabel elbows him in the arm glaring at him sharply. He shrugs as if to say "What?" but he gets the message and backs off. She can tell he's kind of torn, because Stan did betray them and hiding the other two journals from Dipper was a low blow that cut deep, but on the other hand, it's hard to be furious with a man who has lost all hope. Even without the details, the admission that it was all to save his brother seemed to strike a chord with Dipper, she could see it every time he let his gaze rest on her, his eyes full of concern. She would mouth the words, "I'm fine" when he did, but it's not enough to convince him. But mixed with everything else they had discovered, he seems to be on the fence about how he should feel about anything.

"How much do you know about your family tree on your dad's side?" Stan asks finally.

"Not much," Dipper replies with a shrug, "Dad never really talks about grandpa or anything. We never even heard of _you_ until mom and dad said we were staying here."

"Well, that's kind of messed up," Stan quips, "well…I have two brothers, your grandpa Shermy and then there was my twin brother, Stanford."

"Stanford?" Dipper looks confused, and if Mabel wasn't already aware of this she might've had a similar reaction, "But I thought you were…"

"Like I said kid, it's a long story," he sighs.

"If you're not Grunkle Stan then who _are _you?" Dipper demands, looking a little betrayed. Mabel puts her hand on his elbow to calm him and he starts to shrug her off but then he sighs, glancing at her with a concerned and sympathetic look as Stan waves his arms in defence.

"I'm still your Grunkle Stan," he explains, "my real name is Stanley. My parents were never really creative when it came to naming us, dad had the name Stan picked out and when we turned out to be twins well—we're both Stan, but my brother, Stanford always went by Ford, trust me it was easier that way."

"So you _stole_ his identity? Why?"

"That's also a pretty long story, and I'm getting to that," Stan sighs, "but in a nutshell, I didn't live the most, how should I put it?—_law abiding_ lifestyle and after my brother disappeared, faking my death and taking up my brother's identity was the easiest way to stay here without having to worry about the long arm of the law coming to get me as well as a few _shady_ characters I worked with in the past, the kind you don't want to mess with… And if I was to save my brother, I had to stop running, I had to stay here…but I'm getting ahead of myself…"

"The newspaper article, it…it makes sense now," Dipper muses.

"Anyway, my brother Ford, he…he was a genius. He was always obsessed with the paranormal and weird, and as you know, this place is just _crawling_ with weird. He knew this area was a hotspot for the paranormal, so he moved here determined to study and document and figure out the mysteries of this town, and the universe," Stan sighs, "but it turned him into a very paranoid man."

Dipper squirms in his seat, his eyes going wide and his mouth opening as pieces of the puzzle he had been obsessing about all summer start to fall in place. Mabel rests her hand on her brother's shoulder, giving it a squeeze because Dipper looks like he can really use an anchor right now. He muscles are tense and looks like he's going to lose it any moment now, for better or worse.

"Meanwhile, I got into some things I shouldn't have. I screwed up bigtime, got kicked out of the house and lived for many years as this nobody drifter. Lived out of my car, did some _questionable_ things in my lifetime…Ford and I had a falling out and it…it was messy, let's just put it that way. Neither of us really approved of each other's lifestyle. I thought Ford was wasting his talents, and I…well I was always one big disappointment and with the poor choices I made in my life, can't blame him for not supporting my path in life…" Stan sighs. "We hadn't spoken in years, but one day I received a note from my brother, asking me to come see him. I thought, hey, maybe he's ready to reconcile but I was wrong. He wanted to give me this," Stan pauses and pulls out Journal #1 from his coat pocket.

Dipper leaps from his seat, "Wait, wait, wait…are you saying that…? How'd he get that? Are you saying he…he…?"

"He wrote the journals, kid," Stan says bluntly.

"Wait! So all this time…the author of the journals was your _brother_?! Our Grunkle!" Dipper jumps up from his seat, excited, bewildered and momentarily forgetful of everything that had happened earlier. Mabel clutches his arm to help keep him grounded because he looks like he's about to start hyperventilating from excitement.

Stan nods, leaning heavily against the counter as he looks out the window, deep in thought. Far in the distance they can hear the wailing of sirens, reminding them that they need to leave.

"Why didn't you say something? What happened to him?"

"Maybe we should start thinking about getting out of here before the government guys get here?" Mabel suggests, cutting Dipper off.

"Yeah, you guys need to go," Grunkle Stan nods in agreement, "Soos, can you do me a favor? It's a big one. I need you to look after these kids for me, take them home to their parents. It's not safe for them here and…"

"Uh, Grunkle Stan, we're not the ones who are wanted by the Agents, you're coming with us," Mabel shakes her head, not accepting the possibility of history or alternate timelines to repeat themselves. The other Grunkle Stan had no intention of escaping Gravity Falls with them either.

"I'm not going to incriminate you for harbouring a fugitive," Stan says. "Besides, as I said, what's the point in me running now? It's all over. I failed."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere without you so don't you _dare_ talk like that Grunkle Stan," Mabel insists, "Who's with me?" she looks around the table at Dipper and Soos and is surprised and disappointed when they can't seem to look her in the eyes. Of course just because they're not as furious as they were in the other reality, doesn't mean they're completely forgiving either. No matter the outcome, Stan _did_ betray them with his secrets. "Seriously?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dipper asks, all the excitement escaping him like air from a balloon as it hits him once again just how much Stan kept from them, "Ever since I showed you Journal #3, you knew I was trying to find out the identity of the author. It was driving me nuts! Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep all of this a secret? Maybe if you just told us…"

"Dipper, there were some days when I wanted to tell you," Grunkle Stan confesses, "believe me, it's so _hard_ keeping something this big from everyone you care about. Living a lie takes a toll on you, and I wanted so badly to be able to share the burden with someone but I couldn't. What I was doing, it was dangerous. I had to keep it a secret from _everyone_ because I needed to protect you."

"Then why do it?"

"Because of what happened to my brother. Stanford he…he was obsessed with the paranormal and discovering the mysteries of the universe to the point of madness. See, he had a birth defect where he had an extra finger on each hand, so being an anomaly himself, he was fascinated with them. It's why Gravity Falls was so appealing to him.

"There's a good chunk of his life where I wasn't a part of it, but somehow during that time he built the Portal. When he asked me to come and gave me the journal, he was crazy. He said it was dangerous and that I had to hide the journal where no one could find it, because it held the key to making the portal work. I didn't understand," he says regretfully, "I was so foolish and angry and we got into a fight. Long story short, somehow in all the kerfuffle, the Portal was activated and it opened. It was much like it got down there today. Gravity shifted, we were floating and…and…I was thrown back but Ford he…he was sucked right into the portal." Stan has to stop a moment, his eyes getting misty with guilt and regret, "Ever since that day I've vowed to do whatever it took to get my brother back," Stan's expression is grim and he bows his head sadly, "but I failed."

"Well, maybe we could try again?" Dipper suggests much to Mabel's surprise.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, it's dangerous and there's so much more to it," Grunkle Stan explains with a weary sigh, "Timing is everything, and it was risky enough trying to open the portal and save my brother when the timing was right, but to try again when the timing is all wrong would definitely be catastrophic."

"And potentially tear the universe apart?" Dipper's shoulders sag with understanding and a new sense of anger.

"I always felt Ford's warning was a little exaggerated," Stan frowns, "I mean, the portal opened thirty years ago, and the world didn't end. But you saw how dangerous it was, even simply trying to shut it off was dangerous!"

_It didn't end because Grunkle Ford went through it, which probably somehow kept those Wraiths or something else from coming to our world,_ Mabel thinks.

Dipper's face darkens, "Yeah, it was. That thing almost sucked Mabel through it, she was right in front of it, directly in the line of fire! If she let go just _one second_ sooner, she'd be gone just like your brother! As it is, she got _hurt_ because of you!"

"Dipper…" Mabel murmurs, trying to calm him down. She's a little unnerved by how all over the place he is emotionally, but she can't blame him either. It's definitely a lot to take in. She's actually impressed with how much she herself has managed to keep it together, especially considering all that she knows. But the need to keep it a secret and the need to keep Dipper from going off the deep end helps her remain calm, though she's not sure how long that will last.

"That's one of the many, many reason why I had to keep it a secret! The last thing in the world I ever wanted is for you kids to get hurt," Grunkle Stan exclaims, "you three weren't supposed to be there!"

"Can you _imagine_ what would've happened if she was too late? Or if she actually chose to listen to you?" Dipper is practically tearing his hair out and Mabel feels dizzy at his words.

_Oh Dipper, you have no idea!_

"I would have my brother back!" Stan snaps back, "If you kids just stayed out of this, I would have my brother with me right now!"

_True, but not quite like you expected._

"Yeah? And if you just told us, maybe we could've worked together at saving him!" Dipper hisses.

"Dudes, maybe now's not the time," Soos interjects as the sirens get louder, "the government dudes…"

"Grunkle Stan, please don't let yourself get caught," Mabel begs, "I know it seems hopeless, like it's all over but you can't just give up!"

Stan seems to think a moment, "OK, come with me. I've got an idea on how we can ditch them."

"So do I," Dipper says, and before anyone can say anything he starts to run off.

"Dipper wait!" Mabel exclaims. She tries to follow him but her injured ankle won't cooperate and she lets out a cry as a sharp pain shoot up her leg and she stumbles. For a second she had forgotten about the injury and her startled and pained cry stops Dipper in his tracks. The only thing that saves her from faceplanting on the floor is two strong hands catching her mid-fall.

"Easy there, kiddo," Stan says, hoisting her up in his arms, "Dipper, what are you doing?"

"Trust me," he replies, eyeing Mabel to make sure she's OK. She can't hide the wince from crossing her face but she nods, motioning him to hurry with whatever he's up to.

He returns right away and when Mabel sees what's in his hands she gasps, "Dipper you _kept _that?"

"What? I thought it might come in handy," Dipper shrugs, typing in STAN PINES into the memory erasing gun, "and I was right."

"Where did you get _that_?" Stan gapes with surprise.

"Long story?" Dipper smirks.

"That's not going to stop them forever, not with all the evidence they've collected," Stan says.

"But it'll get them off your trail long enough for us to get away," he points out. "Wait, how do you know about this?"

"Oh I know all about the Blind-Eye Society," Stan frowns, clearly not on good terms with them, "Don't know who all the members are, but I know what they're about. How did you get that from them because I highly doubt you're a member?"

"Maybe once we're all safe from the Agents we can all swap stories and stuff, OK?" Soos chuckles nervously as the sirens close in. The black cars are visible now, heading towards them.

"Dipper, give me that," Stan instructs, gently setting Mabel back down where she grasps Dipper for support. Dipper hands Stan the memory erasing weapon and slides his arm across Mabel's back to help keep her balanced while on her feet, "Thanks kid, I know I don't deserve the help…"

"Yeah well…I'm pissed off at you, but you're still our Grunkle and you meant well. If anything happened to Mabel, I would probably do the same thing," Dipper admits.

Mabel gives him a sharp look, remembering with clarity the other Dipper being so furious he was completely closed off to considering Grunkle Stan's motivation, so much that even when Mabel confronted him with the idea that he would've done the same thing for her, it wasn't enough to help him see it from Stan's point of view. But then he had been so mad at her too, but despite that she had no doubt in her mind that the other Dipper, no matter how angry and upset he might have been with her, would've done everything in his power to save her from the Wraiths that had been feeding off her soul and trying to possess her had he known about them.

_I may not have agreed to any deal, but Dipper has given up so much for me so at least I don't have to worry about the other Dipper making any deals for me._

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of familiar laughter ringing in her ears that startles her. Her eyes dart around the room but judging by the confused faces of Dipper and Soos, it's clear that she's the only one who hears it.

"What's wrong?" Dipper asks, looking around. Stan had already left to make the Agents forget all about him, and they can see through the window Stan firing the memory-erasing gun at them and a lot of confused men in black suits climb back into their cars and start to drive away.

"Nothing I…"

_Oh Shooting Star, you are so gullible! Did you know that's not in the dictionary? Look it up!_

"Wait, is this all even _real_?" she asks as the room begins to spin and she's overcome with a strange feeling of weakness, so much so that even with Dipper's support she can't hold her weight anymore and nearly slides from his grip as she descends toward the floor. She might've collapsed completely if not for Dipper who tightened his grip on her and deliberately followed her to the floor, maneuvering her so her head rests in his lap.

"Mabel!" Dipper exclaims as her eyes flutter closed. She doesn't lose consciousness, but she flinches when images flash in her mind. They move too quickly to make sense of, but she can see the swirling vortex of colours and light, and the starry void within.

_No, no don't send me back there!_

_Let go…Let go…_

She gasp in pain as the all-too familiar and frightening energy tingles through her nerves, sending a chill of terror up and down her spine.

She opens her eyes to see everything is in black and white, and time seems to be put on pause. She looks around and watches Bill Cipher appear. "What did you do to me?" she hisses.

"Relax," Bill scoffs, "why do you keep assuming I'm the one who did this to you?"

"Hmm, let's see, where do I start?"

"OK, OK, so what you experienced just now with the fainting like a damsel thing, is a side effect."

"Side effect? Of what?"

"Of our deal! You created a whole new timeline with this new choice of yours, and you were in such bad shape in the other timeline that this is your body and mind's way of trying to keep up with this new reality, of course," Bill explains, "It happens sometimes, but you'll be fine."

"Deal? What deal? I don't recall agreeing to make any deal with you," Mabel scowls.

Bill raises his stick arms up in mock surrender, "What? Really? Oh my mistake! Come here so I can send you back to the other timeline then."

Mabel backs up in horror, her heart tightens in terror at the mere thought of going back to the other timeline. She didn't agree to any deal, but now that she's here she can't bear the concept of returning to a reality where she's dying and trapped in the middle of nowhere, completely isolated while powerful entities struggle to take over her body to destroy everything. At least this reality has hope. She bows her head in shame and submission, "What do you want?"

"Hmmm, let's just say you owe me a huge favour."

"What kind of favour?" Mabel asks, her stomach twisting in knots as she frets about what he could possibly want from her in return.

Bill ignores her, "When the time comes that I need to cash in on this favour you will do as I say no questions asked. If you don't deliver then it's back to Limbo for you and the other reality will play out as it was meant to and it's not going to be pretty, especially for Pine Tree."

Mabel stumbles, she feels as though she's going to faint which is odd considering technically she's already fainted. The idea of returning to the Void for even a minute terrifies her. She doesn't know how long she spent there last time, but every second was torture and felt like forever. But the idea that Dipper would also suffer a terrible fate frightens her even more.

"What do you have to gain from this?" Mabel asks quietly, although deep down she's seething at how dirty he's playing because he's not really giving her any choice, either she agrees and is obligated to do something, most likely something _awful_ lest she return to the other reality, or she doesn't agree and ends up back there anyway. But she can't go back. This reality at least has hope, it's not perfect, but so far its way better than the alternative. But who's to say that won't drastically change? Who's to say that once Bill comes to collect it won't lead to a reality far more horrible than what she had left behind when she was given the do-over?

"Well, for starters, I basically_ own_ you, Shooting Star," Bill laughs, thoroughly amused, "at least for now. But for what purposes well, that's all for me to know and you to find out, eh?"

"Why even bother with this new timeline? Why are you so eager to—"

"Talk to you later!" Bill waves cheerfully and suddenly time starts up again and Mabel's lying on the floor in Dipper's lap.

"—help me?"

She blinks up at Dipper, he looks so frantic and worried and she can feel her eyes well up with tears, "Dipper?" she whispers, her lower lips quivering. _What have I done? What have I done?_

"Oh man, Mabel!" he exclaims, "Didn't I tell you not to scare me like that?"

"I'm sorry," she whimpers.

She can see Soos standing over them, his face full of concern. "Dude are you OK?"

"I…I'm…"

"Don't say you're fine, Mabel when you're clearly not," Dipper says, his voice shaking. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Mabel can't answer, but she shakes her head, 'no' and then bursts into tears, clutching at Dipper's vest to pull herself up in a sitting position and she sobs into his shoulder. Clearly taken aback Dipper gently puts his arms around her and rubs her back comfortingly, "Mabel? Hey, it's OK…it's OK…" he murmurs gently, completely at a loss, "What's wrong, sis? What's the matter?"

"Dipper I…I…" she tries but she chokes out a sob and shakes her head again, unable to say anymore as the tears fall relentlessly.

"Hey, hey…it's OK, shhh…it's OK..." he soothes.

She can vaguely hear Stan come in and ask what happened and she wants to answer but she can't stop crying long enough to say a word. "Don't know," Soos explains, "She passed out or something and when she came to she just started crying."

"Mabel, honey…I know a lot has happened today," Stan tries awkwardly, "but…jeez kid…it's gonna be OK."

_No, it's not. It's not going to be OK…what have I done? What am I going to do? Why do I feel like I've doomed us all no matter what choice I made down there?_

"I'm s-sorry, Gr-grunkle Stan!" she manages to get out. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Woah, sweetie, it's OK. You did what you thought was right, you didn't know! I forgive you, honey, I forgive you. Does that help?"

_No, it just makes it worse!_

"I'm s-so, so sorry!" she cries over and over, unable to stop no matter how much she tries.

"Man, I've never seen her like this," Dipper muses in worried awe as he holds her tight, "Mabel, you gotta calm down, it's OK. You're going to make yourself sick…come on, what's wrong? Talk to me, what's going on?" She gasps for breath as she keeps crying, wanting to stop, wanting to calm down but she _can't_, "Mabel, please, you're scaring me…"

"I'm sorry!" she cries, wearing herself out. In the back of her mind she can hear Bill Cipher's amused laughter, and the beckoning call of the Wraiths tempting her to let go. _Shut up! Shut up! Go away! You're not real…you're not supposed to exist here in this reality…_

Meanwhile, not knowing what else to do Dipper just rocks her back and forth soothingly, rubbing circles into her back until she exhausts herself completely and finally cries herself to sleep.

* * *

A/N As always, thanks for reading! Now, don't forget to be awesome and please let me know what you think! It brings me and my muse such joy to read your thoughts and theories and comments. Y'all are the BEST!


	8. Illusion

_Edit: Fixing the whole Stan-switch thingie..._

A/N Huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed this! Not much to say this time around but I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

**Illusion**

_Beep. Beep. Whoosh. Beep. Beep. Whoosh._

Her world is surrounded by sound and smell but not sight. She can't see anything, no matter how hard she tries, and when it finally occurs to her that her eyes are closed, she can't open them. She can't move at all, not even to breathe, yet it doesn't seem to be an issue. She just _exists_.

The beeping noise is steady, slow. The whoosh of air has its own rhythm, also steady, also slow. The air smells sterile and strange, not pleasant, reminding her of a place but she can't figure it out, the name for it is just beyond her reach. Her body is numb, which is a nice change and the voices in her head, telling her over and over to let go are blessedly silent.

_Maybe it's all over?_

She can sense something suddenly resting on her hand and it sends a surge of warmth and comfort up her arm and she's filled with a feeling of peace and sadness. The touch wraps around her hand and squeezes briefly. She wants to squeeze back in return, but her hand won't cooperate. Nothing wants to cooperate, it's like she's completely paralyzed.

"Hey Mabel," a voice says softly, sadly. It's muffled, like he's speaking through a pillow, or her ears are full of water, but she recognizes the voice instantly.

_Hey yourself bro-bro_, she thinks, unable to reply.

"Oh man, I…I don't know what to do, I feel so alone," Dipper sighs, his stifled voice sounding so lost and broken, "They got Soos. They don't believe him when he said he doesn't know anything and…they're holding him as an accomplice. They even took Wendy in for questioning. Man she looked, she looked so shaken when they let her go, like she had been crying. Apparently they grilled her hard. I talked to Mom and Dad, they want so badly to come see us, but Gravity Falls is still on lockdown, no one is allowed to leave or enter. They're not even going to make an exception for us, which is stupid.

"One good thing came out of this though…we've got help in the most unlikely place. Pacifica has pulled some strings and the Northwest's entire team of lawyers are going to represent us. She says it's the least they could do after I helped her with her family's ghost problem. Apparently they're really good, of course considering all the Northwest family has gotten away with, they _have_ to be good, right?"

He pauses, sniffs once or twice.

"I keep thinking about what you said…Oh man Mabel, I…I am so scared that the last words we'll ever exchange are angry words…but you're going to keep fighting, you're going to get better, I _have_ to believe that otherwise I…I just don't know what I'd do. I'm sorry for being so angry with you, it wasn't you that I was angry at, not really. I was just so upset about everything that I wasn't thinking clearly. I mean yeah, I did feel a little betrayed, but honestly, I kinda knew what you'd choose, probably before you did, and while I wished you listened to me, listened to _reason_, I realize now that I can't blame you for being you. You've always tried to see the good in people, and when Stan asked you to trust him, I knew that I was fighting a losing battle. I realize now that the pressure you were under was intense, because yeah, for me it wasn't a choice, but for you? But see where all this blind faith you have in people has gotten us?"

He pauses again to heave a deep and heavy sigh, "But I've been thinking about what you said, and about what Stan did for you, and you're right. I _would_ do the same thing for you. I _will_ do the same for you if that's what it takes. I don't know how, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to save you. I promise. You just have to promise to me that you'll hold on, OK?"

_I'll try Dipper, but I don't know if I can…I won't stop fighting though._

She can feel him squeeze her hand, and she can hear him crying and she wants so badly to reach out for him and let him know that everything is going to be OK, but how could she? She can't move and she knows that it's not going to be OK, it's hopeless.

To her surprise though, her hand does move, squeezing back and she can hear Dipper suck in a bated breath.

"Mabel?" he breathes, "Did you just…? Do it again! If you can hear me do it again!"

Her hand twitches once more, but something seems wrong. Her hand moves, but not on her command.

"Oh man! Are you…? Mabel, can you hear me?"

Her hand moves again, and even though she wants to let Dipper know she's there, she somehow knows that she's not moving on her own free will. She tries to will just her thumb to move, just to be sure, but her whole hand squeezes Dipper's and curls into a loose fist.

_Dipper, I don't think it's me that's doing this!_

She tries to keep her hand still. But again it moves, but not when she tells it to.

_It's not me!_

"Oh man, Mabel, hold on! Are you in pain? Squeeze once for yes, and twice for no."

She tries to squeeze his hand twice, because she can't really feel anything but his warm touch, but her hand moves once.

_Don't believe it! It's not me that's doing this!_

"Oh, OK…OK just stay with me Mabel, I'll go get help!" he says excitedly and she feels him let go of her hand, "Somebody help! She's waking up!"

She senses him leaving the room, she can hear the beeping noise, once a slow, steady rhythm pick up in speed, and suddenly she's overwhelmed with pain.

_We told you to let go, but you didn't listen…_

_Dipper! It's not me! I'm not the one in control! Don't trust them!_

_He can't hear you child, we told you to let go and stop fighting us…it's too late now._

She inwardly screams as a sharp, agonizing pain rips through her chest and she feels like her soul is being torn into pieces.

_It's not me!_

_It's not me!_

"It's not me!" she cries out loud.

"Mabel, Mabel, hey…shhh, it's just a bad dream!" Dipper's voice soothes and she opens her eyes, crusty from dried tears. Now fully in control of her body, she's surprised to see she's in the living room at the Mystery Shack, curled up on Grunkle Stan's comfy chair in front of the TV. Her blanket is loosely draped over her and her foot propped up on some pillows with an icepack resting on the bandage wrapped around her ankle. Dipper's kneeling in front of her, his hand on her shoulder.

"Dipper?" she sobs, "I don't understand…what's going on? How'd I get here?"

"You were having a bad dream," he repeats, "you cried yourself to sleep, remember?"

"I…I…it wasn't real?"

He shakes his head, "Just a dream. Mabel, what's going on with you?"

"I don't know," she cries, "I don't know…"

Dipper combs his fingers through her hair comfortingly before resting his hand back on her shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze, "It's going to be OK. I think maybe you're just overwhelmed by all that has happened today. Hopefully that's all it is. Grunkle Stan wants to take you to see a doctor though, just to be sure you didn't hurt your head or something. He's worried about you, we all are."

Mabel wants to tell him she's OK now, but she's not and he's definitely not going to believe her so she just nods with a sniff, haphazardly wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shakes her head, "I…I don't know what to say to be honest."

"You were saying something about it not being you? What did that mean?"

"I…I don't remember."

"You're a terrible liar, Mabel," he chides gently.

"Well… I don't want to talk about it, OK? I'd rather just forget it. Like you said, it was just a dream!" she snaps, a little harsher than she intended to. _Or was it? It felt so real…_

"OK, OK," he raises his arms in mock surrender, "I'm just worried about you. I only want to help."

She sighs, "I know, and I'm sorry. I'm just…so much has happened and…I don't know…" _I don't even know if this is real. And if it is, then what it means terrifies me because that means I'm in Bill Cipher's debt, but if it's not…that's so much worse._ "I don't know what to think or how I should feel."

"I know what you mean," Dipper nods.

_You have no idea, brother!_

"Do you think I did the right thing?"

"What down there? With the portal?"

She nods.

"Of _course_ you did. Don't be all second guessing yourself Mabel," Dipper tells her, "you made the right choice, I'm proud of you."

"But…I condemned the Author, our own _Great Uncle_ to remain trapped. I broke Grunkle Stan's heart." _I was tricked into making a deal with Bill Cipher to escape a worse fate and I'm so scared about what he wants in return._

"But you didn't know, based on what we knew, you did the right thing. You potentially saved the world!"

"But at what cost? I can't shake the feeling that I made a horrible mistake! That no matter what choice I made down there was wrong!" _What does Bill want? What's in it for him? Why was he so eager for me to shut the portal off? Is this reality even _real_? _

"Mabel," Dipper says, "I know it wasn't easy for you. You were under so much pressure, so much weight was put on your shoulders so quickly. Maybe neither choice was the right one, but consider the alternative. Who _knows_ what kind of catastrophe could've happened if you let the portal open? For a moment I thought that was exactly what you'd do and I was terrified that we were all going to die, but we didn't thanks to you. As for the Author? We'll figure something out. Grunkle Stan may have given up hope, but I'm not going to, and neither should you."

Mabel gives him a small smile, "I thought I was supposed to be the optimist in the family."

"I know, these pep talks are supposed to be _your_ job," Dipper teases. Mabel huffs softly through her nose, rolling her eyes at her brother before leaning forward and pulling him into a hug.

"So, are you feeling any better?"

"A little," she lies, widening her smile to deflect his concerns, "thanks."

"_There's_ the smile I've been missing!" Dipper grins, releasing her from the hug.

_You're right, this is better than the alternative, of _course_ it is, but it comes at a price, and I don't know what that is yet, and that scares me. But you're right, I shouldn't give up hope. We'll figure something out…assuming this is even real, and I just don't know anymore. This reality _feels_ real, but then so did my dream._

"What happens now?"

"Well, Grunkle Stan and Soos are out changing a flat tire on Soos's truck," Dipper says, frowning slightly, "after we get you checked out by a doctor, they're taking us home. The memory eraser won't keep the Agents away for very long, since we couldn't exactly erase all the evidence against him, so Stan has to go into hiding for a while. We're taking a detour to Portland first though, I guess Stan knows a guy there or something that can help him out…"

"I thought Soos's truck was totalled…"

"Uh, no…" Dipper cocks his head to the side, confused, "There was a little bit of damage, the worst being a busted tire, why would you think it was totalled?"

"No reason," Mabel shrugs, averting her gaze. "Just thought…" _Am I going crazy? Mixing up realities and stuff? _"…because of the gravity anomalies it might be..."

"It's fine," Dipper replies, casually waving off her concerns, "Things are a mess, but it could've been so much worse."

"You're telling me," she chuckles nervously.

Dipper regards her with confused scrutiny but after a moment just shakes his head, "Anyway, I packed some of your things while you were asleep. If you're OK now, I'm going to finish up."

"Let me help," Mabel offers as she starts to get up, but she frowns when Dipper gently pushes her back down, "Come on, I'm not making you do all the work…"

"No, you need to take it easy," Dipper says with complete seriousness, "I'm not kidding when I say we're all worried about you. Just…humor us and get some rest."

"At least let me join you and keep you company!"

"Mabel, you can barely even stand on that foot of yours, let alone walk, how are you supposed to climb the stairs to our room?" Dipper chides with a weary sigh.

"I can manage."

Dipper raises a skeptical brow.

"If you help me," she adds. When his frown deepens she puts on her most innocent expression, "Please? I don't want to be alone."

"I'd have to practically carry you, and I can't do that. I'm almost done, and besides you have Waddles here to keep you company," Dipper says.

"Waddles?" she sits up excitedly, "You found him? Oh thank you, thank you! Where is he?"

"I didn't realize he was missing…" Dipper muses, placing the back of his hand on her cheek and forehead as though to check for a fever.

Mabel ignores the worried gesture and leans forward, glancing down and finds him lying on the floor by the chair, hidden from her line of sight until she twisted around to look, "Waddles! I thought I lost you forever!" She pats at her lap, motioning for him to join her. When he's within her reach she picks him up and cuddles him tightly, feeling tears well up in her eyes again.

"I think he was a little spooked by the gravity anomalies," Dipper shrugs, "he was probably hiding somewhere."

"Probably," she agrees with a slight whimper, a lone tear falling down her cheek as she thinks about the other reality, how she probably _did_ lose him forever. She lost everything forever in that reality. Or was going to. _I can't go back there! I can't go back to Limbo, all alone with the knowledge that everyone I care about was going to suffer…_

"Mabel, he's fine," Dipper frowns, "You can relax."

"You're right," she agrees, wiping a tear from her eye before kissing Waddles on the top of his head.

"I won't be long," he promises, "I swear I'm almost done packing."

"I don't want to leave though."

"Me neither," Dipper agrees, "but Grunkle Stan…"

"I have an idea," she says suddenly, thinking back to something the _other_ Dipper said in her dream, "maybe he won't have to leave. I bet he just needs a really good lawyer, maybe even a team of them…"

"I doubt Grunkle Stan could afford a really good lawyer…"

"Pacifica," Mabel exclaims, "maybe she could help. I bet with all the shady shenanigans the Northwest family has gotten away with over the years they must have the best team of lawyers in the country! Remember when you helped her with that ghost problem?"

"Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday—oh yeah because it _was_ yesterday," Dipper teases sarcastically as he furrows in brow in curiosity about her choice in words.

_Really? It feels like ages ago…but yeah I guess it was,_ Mabel thinks, shuddering a little because so much had happened, in both realities, not to mention the Void or Limbo or whatever felt like far more time had passed that what probably actually did. It was no wonder she had exhausted herself. She shudders, struggling to fathom the fact that everything she had been through took place in the course of only one day. "Well," she says, her voice shaking a little, "maybe she can pull some strings and arrange for them to help us with Grunkle Stan's legal problems?"

Dipper looks skeptical, "I don't know…yeah I helped her and her family but it's kind of a huge favour to ask for in return."

"It's worth a try, isn't it?"

"I guess so," Dipper nods, "though I doubt her father would allow…"

"Exactly," Mabel grins, "I wouldn't be surprised if Pacifica would try and make it happen just to spite her dad."

Dipper returns the grin, "OK, I'll see what I can do."

"You know, I think she likes you," she teases in a sing-song voice, trying so hard to be more like her old self, "things were starting to look like the beginnings of an epic summer romance there at the party, broseph…"

Dipper blushes, "Shut up. I was just doing my duty as the only Ghostbuster in town."

Mabel laughs, and though it's subdued and heavy with the weight that _still_ seems to be pressed on her shoulders, it's the first real laugh she's had in what feels like ages. Dipper seems too happy to hear her laugh to be annoyed by her teasing and he visibly relaxes, lightly punching her on the arm, joining in the laughter.

"Glad to see you're starting to feel better, sis. I'll be back soon," Dipper says as he heads upstairs.

Her smile fades as he leaves. All the warmth and sense of hope seems to disappear with him, and alone again Mabel shivers, cuddling Waddles closer to her. "Bill?" she whispers, "Are you there? I think you owe it to me to give me some answers…"

She's met with silence.

"Please?" she whispers, "I need to know what's _really_ going on."

Nothing.

Mabel sighs, covering her eyes with her hand, trying to will herself to not cry. She doesn't want to worry anyone anymore, so she's got to keep it together. _Come on Bill, answer me, please! What do you want from me? I don't even know if this is even _real_! And if it is, then what was that I dreamt about? It felt just as real as this does! What are you planning you stupid triangle?_

As she expects, there's still no answer, which makes her angry because she knows he's out there, watching. She lets out a small growl of frustration and glances around the empty room, and decides she doesn't want to be alone. She gently sets Waddles down on the floor and carefully climbs to her feet, making sure to keep her weight off her sprained ankle. Using the furniture for support she hops on her good foot towards the gift shop with the intent of joining Stan and Soos.

It's painful and slow going but when she gets to the door outside she nearly collapses in shock. Grunkle Stan and Soos are nowhere to be seen, the forest is a mess, the totem pole is knocked over and it looks just like it did in the other timeline, only now, off in the distance towards town there's large plumes of thick black smoke. She can hear the wailing of a siren in the distance, not like police or ambulance sirens, it's the kind of siren that only goes off in case of a major catastrophic emergency. She had only heard it once before in her life, and that was only a test but the sound is ominous and terrifying.

She looks around in horror, and sees flames licking at the trees, coming closer and closer. She glances behind her and realizes that the Mystery Shack has fallen, and the remains are on fire.

A sharp, shooting pain strikes her in the chest, and she doubles over shocked by the sudden agony. The pain isn't physical, it's deep within her soul and it brings her to her knees. She tries to scream but no sound comes out.

_We told you to let go…we warned you…_

She's overwhelmed with dizziness and collapses to her hands and knees, trying with all her might to hold on, to keep fighting. She hears a voice call her name in the distance, but she can't answer. It's all she can do to remain conscious. But then she blinks and to her surprise everything is suddenly back to normal. There's no traces of smoke, or fire and the siren has stopped.

_What was that?_ She wonders, blinking back tears.

_Just a little glimpse of what's to come in a certain alternate timeline if you back out of our deal, _a familiar voice in her head replies, and he sounds angry,_ so how about instead of acting all entitled to answers, start showing a little gratitude!_

"Mabel! Jeez kid what are you doing? Are you OK?" Stan calls, as he and Soos jog towards her. Behind them she sees Soos's truck, looking a little banged up but completely fine compared to the other timeline.

"I-I'm OK!" she answers shakily, using the doorframe to pull herself back up to her feet, "I just…lost my balance. Silly me, how embarrassing!"

Stan rolls his eyes and scoops her into his arms, "You really need to stay off that foot kiddo, what are you doing up anyway?"

"I didn't want to be alone," she replies honestly, wiping the tears from her eyes before wrapping her arms around his neck.

Stan sighs, "Yeesh, you could've hollered or something. Anyway, feeling any better after your nap?"

"A little," she nods. "How about you? Are you OK?"

Stan goes quiet, his eyes distant. He can't quite look her in the eyes when he replies softly, "No. No I'm not. But I…I will be."

Her heart heavy with guilt and fear, Mabel hugs her Grunkle tightly and closes her eyes, "I'm so, so sorry."

"I know sweetie, I know."

* * *

A/N Thanks for reading! Please do me a grand favour and let me know what you think! I absolutely love, love, love reading your thoughts and theories and all that jazz! Hope everyone is having a super fun awesome day!


	9. Visions

A/N I'm not really sure if I like this chapter, but I hope you guys do! Plot will pick up very soon. I have the rest of this story all mapped out now, and I'm really excited about it. At first this was a vague idea in my head where I knew where I wanted the story to end up and it slowly has been taking shape in my head as I've been writing this, but now I have a clearer picture of _how_ I want to get there. I'm really excited about this story and I'm so grateful for this show for existing and the episode "Not What He Seems" for pulling my muse out of hiding after a horrible bout of writer's block. And of course, I'm so very grateful for you, my faithful readers and reviewers. Your support has really helped me keep up my momentum.

Shout out to Skyler, thank you for all the reviews, and I'm glad you're enjoying my other "Gravity Falls" stories. They will be updated, I don't know when but they will. This story has held my muse hostage and I'm afraid I have been neglecting my other stories, but they're not forgotten and I won't let them fall by the wayside.

I'd also like to mention gravityfalls22 for the novel length reviews you've been giving me. Thank you so very, very much! I wish you had an account, and if you do that you'd log in, because some of the things you mention leave so much open for discussion and I want to discuss! First of all, your reviews have been the opposite of lame, so don't apologize. Second, I don't have "Dipper and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Non-Stop Fun" so I have no idea what all it says, but the snippets you've been sharing have been very interesting. As a spoilerphobe I've been avoiding much of the speculation and theories out there, but yes, very interesting. Third, you mention that it's interesting that Bill seems interested in Mabel alone, well, who says he's only interested in Mabel? I don't think Bill is the type to keep all his eggs in one basket but since this story is all Mabel's POV, that's all you see. Besides, he's messed with Stan and Dipper, so why not Mabel? That said, I also think it's very likely that Bill will use Dipper's feelings of isolation from his family to his advantage in future episodes, it makes sense after all, though I hope that there won't be any major long lasting conflict between him and Mabel. A little bit for an episode or two, sure, but their relationship is my favorite part of the show so I wouldn't want that to drag out for too long. It's the same reason why I think I'm in the minority when I say that I felt kind of 'meh' about "Northwest Mansion Mystery" because while it was good, it was weird to see Dipper working alone with literally no involvement from Mabel. Mystery Twins forever baby, yeah!

Also it's been mentioned by two different people that Alex stated that we should prepare ourselves to have our headcanons annihilated, to that I say, "Prepare for it? Alex, awesome Alex, I'm _expecting_ it!" "Not What He Seems" left the door open for a million possibilities and I'm so looking forward to seeing where Alex goes with this, because "Gravity Falls" is the best show out there and I know he's not going to disappoint, because even at it's worst, "Gravity Falls" is still the best! This story exists because he's inspired me and I need to pass the time during this hiatus somehow! Right?

I also want to mention RockSunner, you've been with me since chapter one and thank you so much for sticking with me! I hope everyone will continue to stick with me on this! I know I'm forgetting some of you, but I love _every_ review I get, it always makes me so happy!

Well, enough babbling, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

**Visions**

Mabel shifts uncomfortably on the bed, glancing around the sterile environment with a hint of paranoia. The hospital gown itches and she wishes she could just change back into her normal clothes and be done with it. She wants to get out of here, something about this place is unsettling and all-too familiar, like she's been here before.

Sitting beside her on each side is Grunkle Stan and Dipper, both holding up a hand of cards close to their faces, their expressions blank. She's playing along, trying so hard not to reveal how afraid she is of this place, of what it reminds her of that she's worn herself out and she's tired and cranky and wants nothing more than to go home and forget about everything. Better yet, go back to before when they were having a blast setting off fireworks leftover from the Fourth of July celebration, eating icy pops and putting out small fires with water balloons. If she could go back to that moment and stay there forever, or skip over everything that came after so that it never happened, she would.

She glances at the swivel table that's set up across the bed over her lap, at the deck of cards set there and the pile of paperclips they've been using as poker chips as they play a bit of Poker to pass the time and sighs. She looks at her cards, two jacks and a pair of four's, a decent hand, but she's tired and her poker face is starting to slip, "I fold and I'm out," she shoves the rest of her paperclips into the pile and leans back into her pillow, closing her eyes.

"Are you OK?" Dipper asks for the umpteenth time.

Mabel sighs, "No. I'm tired and I want to go home. This whole thing is ridiculous, I'm _fine_."

Grunkle Stan yawns tiredly, "I'm sure we can go as soon as they come back with the test results."

"This is taking _forever_," Mabel whines, fiddling with the oxygen cannula on her nose.

"Leave it," Stan lightly taps her hand and she lowers it, rolling her eyes petulantly.

"It's making my nose itch."

"It's also helping you feel better," Dipper retorts.

"You guys were tossed around down there as much as I was, probably even more so, maybe you two should get checked out, just to be sure," Mabel frowns, "why do I have to be the only one who gets poked and prodded, huh?"

"We're not the ones who passed out. Twice," Dipper sighs, just as tired and cranky as she is.

"But I'm feeling better now," Mabel protests, "honest!"

Stan gives her a weary smile, "Good, it means the treatments are working."

Mabel closes her eyes and sighs, "I just can't wait to get out of here."

"That makes three of us," Stan agrees.

What was supposed to be a quick check up at the doctor's has turned into a six hour waiting game. Due to the influx of patients because of the "Anti-Gravity Phenomena" as the media had started calling it, the town's lone walk-in medical clinic was overrun and not taking any new patients so Stan had little choice but to take Mabel to the ER which would mean an even longer waiting time.

They had to wait for hours before she could be seen, but when Dipper mentioned that she had fainted twice since the phenomena, she got bumped up in the triage line and within half an hour Mabel, Stan and Dipper were all seated in a curtained cubicle in the ER. Soos had left an hour earlier to check on his grandmother, who was fortunately not affected too badly by the gravity anomalies, though she needed him to help her get her home sorted out again.

It took another half an hour before someone came to check Mabel's vitals, and when a nurse took her blood pressure she had frowned. "You really should lie down, hun. You're blood pressure is really low."

"I'm fine."

"We're really backed up at the moment," the nurse had said, "but I'll make sure a doctor comes in to see you right away."

It only took another ten minutes for a doctor to come and order a ton of tests, the whole time the doctors and nurses seemed awfully concerned despite Mabel insisting she's fine.

Now, six hours later all three Pines are tired and anxious to be done with it. Especially considering Stan's little problem with the feds. Pacifica had told Dipper she'd see what she could do about getting Stan lawyered up, but as of now there are no guarantees and there's no telling how long it would take the amnesiac government agents to find out about Stan again.

"Mabel Pines?"

They all look up when another doctor, different from the first one they had been dealing with walks through the curtain holding a chart.

"So are we good? Can I go now?" Mabel asks impatiently.

The doctor shakes his head, "We need to do a few more tests…"

"Seriously?" Mabel groans, "I'm fine!"

"The results of your blood tests show otherwise," the doctor retorts, "cell count is low, iron levels: low, blood sugar and oxygen is low and considering how low your blood pressure is, I'm surprised you're even sitting up let alone conscious to be honest. It's all very concerning and until we can pinpoint exactly _why_ you're sick, I don't feel comfortable with you leaving just yet."

"Do you have any ideas what might be wrong with her?" Grunkle Stan asks, resting his hand on Mabel's knee and giving it a squeeze, guilt is evident on his face, after all, it's his fault she got hurt.

"All signs point to blood loss," he says, "but there's no sign of bleeding, internal or otherwise but any illness that would cause these symptoms typically don't happen so quickly. How long have you been experiencing these symptoms again?"

"Since the anomalies earlier today," she sighs.

"Feeling dizzy?"

"Not really."

"Nauseous?"

"No."

"Any pain?"

"Just my ankle and some bruises, but I'm good."

"Are you menstruating?"

Mabel is mortified by the question, especially with her brother and Grunkle sitting right there beside her and she lowers her gaze, "I…I uh, haven't started yet."

"How long have you been having trouble sleeping?" he asks.

"Uh, never."

"When was the last time you slept?"

"This afternoon…seriously doc, I want to get out of here."

"Are you sure? You look exhausted."

"Probably because we've all had a very, very long day," Mabel sighs, "I want to go home now."

"Well, I'd like to make that happen for you, I really would, but again, I don't feel like it's a good idea until we can figure out what's wrong with you," the doctor says, "I'm going to order a transfusion, and more tests and I would actually like to keep you overnight for observation. Just to be sure."

"What? No! You can't! Grunkle Stan, please don't make them keep me here!" Mabel begs.

"Sorry kiddo," Grunkle Stan shakes his head, "you're not fooling anyone with the feeling OK act and I'd rather play it safe."

"Dipper, bro-bro, help me out here!" Mabel turns to him, even though she knows what his answer will be. He's always been a little overprotective.

"It's only one night," Dipper assures her, before turning to the doctor, "right?"

"If all goes well," he nods, scribbling something onto the clipboard and leaving.

Mabel feels her eyes well up with tears and she sinks into her pillow, covering her eyes with her hands. "Please don't make me stay here!" she begs quietly.

"Mabel," Dipper says gently, taking her hand in his so he can look her in the eyes, "why are you being so stubborn?"

"I don't want to be alone," she insists, "please!" _When I'm alone I see things…and Bill, ugh what is he planning?…plus this place is giving me the creeps! When I'm alone I can't stop thinking about what kind of trouble I've gotten us into, about what I did, and what I owe Bill. I need the distraction! _"I feel fine!"

"Come on, you're white as a ghost," Dipper comments, and his choice of words sends a chill down her spine considering she had been a ghost briefly, in the other timeline. "You're not fooling anyone, and if the doctors have reasons to be worried, then I think you should listen to them."

But that's the problem, she really does feel fine. A little weak and sore, but that's it. _So why are the test results showing that there's something seriously wrong with me?_ She wonders, and the answer scares her because it only makes her doubt if everything around her is even real. What if this is all a dream and she's still stuck in Limbo, or maybe within her own mind as the Wraiths or whatever take control and wreak havoc? What if she's experiencing symptoms of blood loss because she's still dying from it and just can't feel it because nothing in this reality is even real?

"Please, don't leave me here alone!" Mabel begs again.

"Hey, hey," Dipper soothes, pulling her into a gentle hug as she starts to cry, "it's OK, it's only one night. You'll be sleeping through most of it anyway."

"With everything that's happened, I really don't like the idea of us being separated," Mabel cries, "I'm so scared that something terrible is going to happen."

"Sis, come on, this isn't like you to be scared," Dipper frowns, rubbing her back comfortingly, "or this emotional and paranoid. You're the optimist, remember? It's going to be OK."

"Well…could you guys…stay?" she asks, looking them in the eyes, completely serious and sincere.

"If they'll let us, of course we will," Grunkle Stan nods.

"And if not?"

"Hmm…I'm feeling a little faint!" Dipper exclaims, dramatically placing the back of his hand on his forehead, acting like a damsel in distress. "Grunkle Stan, I think I should stay for observation too!"

Mabel giggles and wipes her tears and wraps her arms around her brother, "Thank you."

"I'm sure your parents would be thrilled to see the bills if _both_ of you got admitted," Grunkle Stan points out gruffly, "I'll see what I can arrange, but no faking it, Dipper."

"He's right, bro," Mabel reluctantly agrees, "but it's the thought that counts."

"Hey, at least I made you laugh," Dipper shrugs with a grin, "I'm beginning to miss it."

"Me too," she admits. _I'm sorry to worry you but I'm trying, honest. If you had any idea what's really going on, you'd understand._

After a while the time comes for Mabel to transfer to a room for the night in the children's ward. By now it's just Dipper staying behind as Stan had decided to head home and get a few of Mabel's things to pass the time during her short stay.

"My rainbow yarn and number 6 knitting needles, I have an idea for a sweater design,"Mabel had requested, which came as no surprise to anyone since knitting has always helped her relax, "and…do you think I could borrow one of the journals?"

_That_ request was kind of surprising to everyone, even Mabel. She's never been interested in them before, she only cared about them because Journal #3 had meant so much to Dipper ever since he found it. But considering what had happened and her secret predicament, she figures now's the time to try and find some answers since Bill Cipher doesn't seem willing to give her any.

"OK now I'm _really_ starting to worry," Dipper had said, half-jokingly but also a little sincere.

"What? I made a mistake, I need to try and fix it," Mabel replied, looking to Stan apologetically. She's not a fan of dishonesty, but she can't help but understand now what Bill meant about being deceitful through omission and misdirection-_another _reason to feel nervous about what the triangle demon is up to. As expected Stan had interpreted it as referring to Stanley when she meant so much more, but she knows that correcting him would only hurt him even more than she did when she shut off the portal. It's better for everyone if he _believes_ that she didn't know what the portal was for.

"It's OK," Stan had insisted, his sad eyes betraying his feelings of failure, "please don't beat yourself up over what happened down there. And of course you can borrow one of the journals, if that's what you want. There's not much of a point trying to keep them a secret anymore now that you know the truth."

Dipper's face had darkened at that, reminding everyone that while he's willing to put his anger aside, probably for Mabel's sake, he's still harbouring feelings of betrayal. Mabel still can't blame him, but she's glad that this Dipper is far more understanding than the other Dipper.

_Even though I'm so scared of what Bill might want from me, I hope this isn't all in my head. I want this to be real. I feel like a terrible person because of what it means for Grandpa Stanley, but…besides being stuck in this stupid hospital, things are so much better in this reality…_

"It's going to be OK," Dipper repeats as Mabel visibly tenses when the hospital staff come to get her. He helps keep her steady as she climbs out of bed and into the wheelchair they set next to the bed. "I'm right here."

"I know," Mabel nods quickly, her voice quivering. She feels him massage her shoulders, and she realizes just how tense she is. She glances up at her brother and gives him a small smile of gratitude.

The nurse wheels her out of the small ER cubicle and down a hall towards the elevators, Dipper staying close by her side. She feels something tighten in her chest, her vision wavers and she's struck with a vision of Dipper being held back by Soos. His image is faded and slightly transparent, and he's completely distraught. She follows his line of vision and sees a bunch of nurses and doctors surrounding a gurney, and Mabel instinctively knows that she's the one lying on it.

_BP's dropping, we're losing her!_ one of the doctors says.

_Let go…stop fighting…_

_Mabel! Please hold on! Stay with me! _ Other Dipper begs as alarms go off and she's blocked from view by all the chaos surrounding her. Other Dipper fights Other Soos's grip with all he has before her other self vanishes through a set of doors and he collapses into Soos's arms, in a state of complete despair.

_Dipper!_

_Don't die Mabel, _Other Dipper sobs,_ please don't die…_

"Mabel!" Dipper cries out in alarm, shaking her gently and Mabel blinks at him and the vision is suddenly gone, "Are you OK?"

She shivers and shakes her head even as she replies shakily, "I'm fine…I'm fine..."

"Oh man, you're so white, you totally zoned out for a minute there and look like you're about to pass out again!" he frets, looking up at the nurse for answers.

The nurse looks at the monitor she's still attached to and replies, "You're OK, take deep breaths. In and out. Don't worry, you're fine, pulse looks a little high, BP a little low but you're OK. The sooner you're lying down in bed though, the better."

_What's wrong with me?_ She wonders in quiet panic, recognizing that she had witnessed that scene before, but from a different perspective. This time she saw it instead of just hearing it, and the whole thing is strange and worrisome.

Despite their best efforts, Dipper and Stan aren't allowed to stay with her during the night, though she's glad they let them stay a little past visiting hours to help her get settled. But now her fears are realized and she's alone again with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company. The bed next to her is empty and she can't stop looking at it, the room feels so oddly familiar to her that it's a little unnerving.

As promised Stan had brought her some of her knitting supplies, far more than she needed but he told her that he couldn't remember exactly which ball of yarn or needles she had wanted so he brought several. He also brought Journal #2, but by the time they left she was exhausted and couldn't concentrate when she flipped through it. All the codes and scribbles and ciphers would probably make sense to Dipper, but not her.

The room is dark and the nurse tells her to get some sleep, but Mabel's too stressed and worried to sleep. Plus the blood transfusion they had hooked up to her IV is making her nauseous. However, even though she feels better than her test results says she should, she realizes she does feel a little stronger. _Maybe this means they'll let me go in the morning_, she tells herself, hoping it's working because this room is giving her the creeps and she'd rather not have to stay any longer than that. It's freaking her out how familiar it is and she doesn't know why, but she does have her suspicions which does nothing to ease her fears.

_Bill, you stupid triangle _please_, tell me what's really going on! I'm begging you here! Knowing isn't going to change anything!_

As she expects nothing happens and Mabel sighs, closing her eyes in frustration and exhaustion.

_Beep. Beep. Whoosh. Beep. Beep. Whoosh._

Mabel snaps her eyes open at the familiar sound and looks over at the empty bed next to her. Only now it's no longer empty. There's a girl lying in the bed, attached to various wires and machines. There's a tube down her throat, pumping air into her lungs. A strange grey aura surrounds the girl and Mabel is drawn to her, so much that she lowers the rail on her bed, swings her legs over and grasps the IV stand for support and hobbles towards the bed.

She can't say she's really all that surprised when she realizes who she's looking at. She's looking at her own body, her other self from the other timeline, hooked up to some sort of life support. Even though she kind of expected it somehow, the sight leaves her weak in the knees. The familiar smoky grey aura surrounding her begins to take form and Mabel takes a step back in terror as it takes on a shape identical to her. It's like looking into a mirror only her reflection is void of any colour but various shades of grey, and the eyes…the eyes look like small glass orbs filled with smoke and she can see the darkness and evil within them.

_You thought you could hide from us forever?_

Though she can hear it speaking, the mouth doesn't move, but her misty reflection cocks its head to the side as though curious. Suddenly it goes in for the attack, the ghostly form wrapping around her and suddenly Mabel can't breathe. She lets out a scream as her soul is enveloped by an intense and unbearable pain and she collapses to the floor, completely consumed with pure agony.

_We warned you. You should've just let go._

* * *

A/N Keep in mind, I take full creative licence with the medical stuff because my medical knowledge is very limited, so even if it may be inaccurate, I hope it still feels plausible. As always, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! Reviews feed the muse y'know!


	10. Vulnerable

A/N Hey guys! How is everyone this fine spring day? I hope everyone is doing awesome! Thanks to everyone who has read this far and I hope y'all will stick with me until the end!

Shout out time!

Oh gravityfalls22, as long as you have an email account getting a fanfiction account is easy, just click on the login/register button and follow the steps. Why aren't you allowed to get one? Makes little sense to me but oh well. Anyway, first of all, I'm glad you liked the moment where Dipper pretends to be sick to try and stay with Mabel or at least make her feel a little better. I liked it too. I enjoy writing little moments like that because yay mystery twins! I'm glad you're intrigued by the Wraiths, they're fun to write and create! You'll learn a little bit about them very soon. I'm also happy that my ER scenes feel realistic despite my limited medical knowledge. I try and draw from personal experience having been there myself as a patient and a visitor (minus the whole, y'know plot specific details of course) so I'm glad it works. Also I would LOVE to get my hands on "Dipper and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Non-Stop Fun" but alas I can't find it anywhere and I've put an end to ordering stuff online. So tempted though... Thanks for all the awesome reviews, you've become my rock that helps keep me motivated when I write this story and I'm so grateful that you found this little story of mine. Also, if I could be a writer for "Gravity Falls' for reals, that would be a dream come true! So I'd have no problem with you petitioning with Alex to hire me if you want but uh...no pressure. You're awesome.

Guest (Apr 19): Funny you should ask those excellent questions! This chapter may or may not answer some of them! I'm glad you like this!

Theluckystar22: I know your review was from chapter 8 but I forgot to mention that I LOVE "Doctor Who" and to call this story better than the Weeping Angels episodes is a massively huge compliment to me!

RockSunner, Nelli3, Williebadger618, Guest (Apr 17) and everyone I might've missed over the last few chapters, thanks for the reviews! They feed the muse y'know and always make my day! I'm glad y'all are enjoying this!

Anyway, I'm not sure about this chapter, I'm a little worried about it being a little too exposition-y and a tad OOC in certain places with a certain hard-to-write character but that might be because my inner critic has been trying to hog all the attention from my muse lately. Hopefully that's all it is but we'll see, right?

Well, without further ado, ENJOY!

* * *

**Vulnerable**

The assault is quick and agonizing and there's nothing Mabel can do to fight back against her ghostly doppelganger, not that she doesn't try with all she has. But the creature isn't corporeal and while it seems to have no trouble inflicting unimaginable pain on her, she can't touch it, she can't hurt it, all she can do is writhe and scream and try to get away.

Suddenly her surroundings turn to various shades of grey except for a triangular flash of yellow moving in between them, causing her attacker to hiss angrily as Mabel crumples to the floor breathlessly.

"You don't belong here," Bill's voice is low and menacing, "buh-bye now!"

_She is ours!_

"Haha, that's a good one," Bill chuckles before his eye narrows and he continues, "but we made a deal so actually she belongs to me right now. You have no claim over her."

_But her soul…so strong, so pure…we need it. We need her to let go, surrender…_

"Well, find someone else, this one's mine," Bill folds his stick arms.

The pain deep within Mabel's soul subsides, but it still lingers, leaving her unable to move and she watches the exchange, completely bewildered. There's nothing she can do here to escape them when she realizes she's back in the Mindscape and time has once again stopped. She can see her other self in the other bed, but she's transparent. There's still a very faint grey aura surrounding her, forming into what looks like a string of grey yarn, connecting her other self's body to the Wraiths who continue to take on her form.

"Oh that's right, you can't!" Bill laughs, taunting her ghostly replica, "You're too weak to jump hosts, but there's not much left of the one you chose so you're _stuck_. That's hilarious, really."

_You stole her from us…she is ours! Let go little one, surrender, stop fighting us…come to us…_

Mabel crawls away from them, horrified. Bill hovers almost possessively between her and the creature or creatures, she's really not sure if there's one or many of them, as they reach for her, beckoning her to come closer, still resembling a twisted reflection of her. The remnants of pain from their assault on her soul pulses through her and she holds herself protectively, terrified that even now, in this brand new timeline that she might still fade away. And maybe she still will, because she has her doubts that she was ever given a second chance, that it's all part of Bill's trickery to get her to do whatever it is he wants. But it _feels_ real, and yet so does the other reality somehow, and she doesn't know what to believe anymore.

"Why can't you all just get away from me?" she snaps, "Leave me alone! I don't belong to either of you! You can't have my _soul_! What the heck?"

"I'm not asking for your soul, Shooting Star," Bill reminds her, "just a favour. These creatures however…nothing but foul parasites if you ask me."

Her phantom doppelganger hisses and charges, Bill casually dodges the attack until it's made clear that he's not their target. The Wraiths arms elongate, one grabs her shoulder, long nails digging in deep, making her scream as it lifts her high off the ground. Its touch is like burning ice as a knife forms in the other hand and Mabel braces herself for another attack as it raises its unnaturally long arm up to strike but the pain doesn't come. A flash of yellow and Bill sweeps in, taking the blow instead as he shoves the Wraiths away. Mabel falls to her knees as they let go of her, trembling from pain and adrenaline and looks up to see the attack seems to have little to no effect on Bill, except now he's no longer creepily amused, he's furious.

Bill grows in size, no longer his normal yellow colour. The triangular demon is now red, his eye glowing in rage, "You do not belong here on this side! Be _gone_! Unless she fails to keep her end of our deal, you cannot have her!"

The Wraiths disperse into a cloud of thick mist and retreat to hover over her other self's comatose body and the scene vanishes as though it had never been there. The only clue that they were ever there is the pain that still throbs relentlessly, yet none of the attacks leave a physical mark that she can see.

"Th-thank you," she stammers breathlessly in disbelief.

"And as for you!" Bill hisses, still red and furious turning to her to hover over her menacingly, "You're starting to become more trouble than you're worth! There's no need to thank me, I am merely protecting my investment, nothing more!"

"I didn't _ask_ for them to attack me!" Mabel snaps back with tears in her eyes. Her instincts are telling her to cower away in fear, but Mabel's had enough of being pushed around like a helpless victim. "Please, just tell me what's going on! Why are they after me?"

"Because they need you! Haven't you been paying attention?"

"But _why_?"

"I've already explained it to you my dear," Bill hisses, though he returns to his normal size and yellow colour, "they latched onto you when they crossed through the portal, the journey made them weak, too weak to find another host so they're stuck with you, but they didn't count on you abandoning ship for this new timeline you created thanks to me, and they're not happy about it. I'd start watching my back if I were you."

"But if they're _there _with that other version of me, and I'm here, how did they find me? How is it they can still attack me?" Mabel asks, tears falling down her face as she demands answers. The pain is subsiding enough for her to function again and she climbs to her feet, her eyes narrow and she asks the big question that's been plaguing her, "Is it because this isn't real? Am I dreaming all this while in reality I'm _stuck_ in a friggin' coma?"

"Would you prefer Limbo? Because I can still easily arrange that," Bill warns.

Mabel's eyes widen in horror and she backs up a step, wrapping her arms around herself, wincing at the deep, deep ache that's settled deep within. She falls back down to her knees, looking away from him as she begins to sob.

Bill sighs, "It's as real as you perceive it to be."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she cries in exasperation.

"All this around you is very real. But so is the reality you left behind," Bill explains, "we made a deal and you created a whole new reality, it's that simple."

"You mean you _tricked_ me into making a deal with you."

Bill ignores her, "Anyway, as the creator of this new timeline, you have the rare privilege of being able to sometimes see, and even touch the other side. You are still connected to that timeline, to that other version of you. That's why you're sick, that's why the Wraiths found you, is it really that hard to comprehend you stupid girl? Don't worry, once you fulfill your end of the bargain, the deal is sealed and complete and you'll feel like yourself again and this other timeline will cease to exist. Unless you fail to deliver of course, in which case…" His stick figure arm gestures to the empty bed once occupied by her other self.

"And wh—" she starts but Bill cuts her off.

"Ah, ah, ah…too many questions. It's starting to get annoying," Bill says.

"But what do you _want_ from me?"

"Remember, part of the deal is you do as I say, _no questions asked_! I am being way too generous as it is! Timing is everything kid, when the time comes you'll know. In the meantime…boop!" he hovers over to her and gives her a light shove, making her fall backwards.

She flails her arms in surprise, feeling that weird sensation again of both floating and falling but when her head hits the floor Bill is gone, and the black and white palette of the Mindscape is once again gone and she's blasted by a bright light shining directly into her eyes.

"She's waking up!" someone says as she groans incoherently, disoriented by the sudden change in surroundings. "Mabel, are you all right?"

She blinks sluggishly and glances around at the hospital room, realizing she's lying on the floor and two nurses are kneeling beside her. Her whole body throbs, and she instinctively tries to turn away from their prying eyes and she realizes she can hardly breathe as her pulse races from adrenaline brought on by fear. _What am I going to do?_ She wonders in quiet panic.

"Mabel, honey breathe, come on deep breaths," one of the nurses tells her calmly, "you can do it."

She turns to the nurse and tries to do as she says. It's just breathing but for some reason it takes way more energy than it should to draw in a few deep breaths but she manages and starts to feel better, even though it's wearing her out.

"Come on, let's get you back in bed, shall we?" she asks. Mabel nods and they help pull her to her feet and ease her back onto the bed. "Looks like you pulled your IV out," the nurse frowns as she reattaches some wires that lead to a monitor tracking her vitals. Mabel glances to see a bleeding puncture wound on her wrist just above her hand with a nice purple bruise surrounding it. "Looks like some bad bruising on your shoulder too," she comments, pulling the edge of the hospital gown to reveal her shoulder and Mabel's gut twists in worry when she realizes that the bruising is where the Wraiths had grabbed her and she winces at the sight, because it only serves as a painful reminder of what went down in the Mindscape. She's ironically grateful that Bill saved her, but it only puts her deeper into his debt and she shudders from just how hopeless her situation is. "Did you land on it when you fell?"

She can't really find her voice but she nods, because there's no other way to explain it.

"Oh hun," the nurse tsks, "you really need to be careful. Your blood pressure is still way too low and you need to stay off your foot. It might not be broken, but it's still a very bad sprain. Next time hit the call button so we can assist you if you need to get up OK?"

Mabel nods, her lip quivering as she tries so hard not to cry. She wishes Dipper were here, even with the nurses there, she feels so scared and alone. _Why do I feel like I'm just digging myself deeper and deeper until there's no way out?_ On the other hand she's glad he isn't. He's kind of a worrier by nature, and this would probably send him off the deep end but she selfishly needs the company. Maybe she can't, or at least _shouldn't_ tell him what's _really _going on, because that would only complicate things more than they already are, but just being there would be enough to ease her fears. But she can't stand being here, in this room knowing that right now, in a different timeline she's lying in the bed next to hers in a coma, possibly dying, and just being here is leaving her vulnerable in both timelines.

"Shh, it's OK, you're not in trouble," the nurse soothes, misinterpreting her tears. She hands her a tissue as the other one steps out of the room, "But we're going to have to reinsert that IV and it might mean you're stuck here a little longer."

Mabel looks at her sharply, "N-no…they s-said only one night."

"Well, with any luck you'll start feeling better after a good night's rest and who knows? Maybe you'll still be sleeping in your own bed tomorrow night, but that's for the doctor to decide," she tells her gently, "right now it doesn't look good, but that can easily change so don't you fret about it right now, OK? You just need to concentrate on getting better."

Mabel nods, but she's trembling and clearly the stress of her secret predicament is showing on the monitor when the nurse looks at the numbers and frowns. "I'll arrange for a doctor to check on you shortly, perhaps he can prescribe something that will help you relax."

It doesn't take long for a doctor and the nurse to return and before long she's back on the oxygen, which makes her nose feel dry and itchy, a new IV is inserted in her arm above her hand and she's given something to help her sleep. She tries to fight it, because the thought of falling asleep when she's still so vulnerable to possible attacks from the other timeline is terrifying, but it doesn't take long for the meds to take hold and her mind is wrapped in a thick fog and she drifts into a deep, dreamless sleep.

0-0-0

"Are you sure it wasn't you?"

Awareness seems to come in stages and the first thing she notices is the sound of Dipper's voice. He sounds worried and a little angry and she wants to know what's going on so she tries to open her eyes but they're too heavy to open.

"Of course not, Mabel shut it down remember?" Stan's voice this time, "It's deactivated and broken, I don't see how it could possibly be because of the Portal. It doesn't make sense that the gravity anomalies are still happening, they should've stopped the moment Mabel hit that button."

"Well, if it's not that machine then what else could be causing them?"

"I don't know, Dipper."

_What are they talking about? The gravity anomalies are back? Must've slept through it…_

Things are quiet for a long moment, and caught somewhere between sleep and waking, Mabel starts to drift again, just knowing her family is by her side makes her feel safe and the warm blanket of sleep is so inviting so she kind of wants to return to it. It's OK now that Dipper and Grunkle Stan are here. But when she feels a hand rest on her hand, it pulls her closer towards awareness.

"This is your fault," Dipper says, "I know you meant well but…you should have told us. You should have said something and then maybe Mabel wouldn't have gotten hurt. Oh man, she's still so pale. What's wrong with her?"

"Wish I knew kid," Stan grunts with a hint of regret. She can hear him heave a deep, weary sigh, "Y'know if you kids just minded your own business…you had promised me that you wouldn't go looking for trouble when I gave you back that journal…"

"We weren't looking for trouble!" Dipper raised his voice slightly, and then quickly hushes when he realizes he's getting too loud, "We were trying to clear _your_ name, remember?"

"I know but….dammit!" Stan mutters under his breath, "if I had known how things would've turned out…I can't believe after thirty years of trying to save my brother, I _failed_. And what it somehow did to Mabel…the last thing in the world I ever wanted was for you kids to get hurt and I'm so sorry."

"I've never seen her this…this _vulnerable_," Dipper muses, his voice breaking slightly, "and I don't just mean physically…I hope they figure out what's wrong so they can help her feel better because…seeing her like this is just plain _wrong._" His grip on her hand tightens, and she can feel the warmth and comfort of his presence wrap around her and her finger twitches in response. "Mabel?" he murmurs with bated breath.

_I'm trying broseph…I'm just so tired I can't just yet…give me a sec…_

After a moment he continues, apparently deciding he was imagining things, "Do you think…could whatever is wrong have something to do with the Portal? She didn't get knocked around as much as we did, but she was right next to that thing…and the energy in the room was weird and unnatural and _she was right next to it_…"

"I hate to say it, but I think you might be on to something there," Grunkle Stan agrees guiltily.

"For a second it looked like she was going to get sucked right through!" he continues, raising his voice a little.

"But she didn't. Thank goodness she didn't."

"But she hasn't been herself ever since!" Dipper continues, "Oh man she's _never_ been like this before…no matter how bad the situation, she's always managed to remain optimistic and confident and now…I mean she's _trying _but…what _happened_ to her?!"

"I know you're worried about her, I am too, but she's strong, she'll be fine. Until then, we just have to be there for her," Stan's voice sounds regretful yet hopeful.

"Yeah," Dipper sighs. She can feel him brush her hair off her forehead, and she fights the thick fog wrapped around her to open her eyes, managing to flutter her eyes with a soft groan. "Mabel? Hey sis, you with us?"

She blinks her eyes open tiredly and gives a slight grin, "Hey…" she murmurs hoarsely.

"Hey yourself," Dipper's worried face warms into a smile, "You OK?"

Mabel doesn't answer right away, because she's not quite sure but she clears her throat, "You guys were watching me sleep, weren't you? Creepy."

Dipper's grin widens, "How are you feeling?"

"Fuzzy," she shrugs lightly with a crooked smirk, her eyes drifting closed again. She struggles to open them again as she says, "I'm glad you guys are here now."

"Kid was in here the moment visiting hours started," Grunkle Stan chuckles softly.

"That's because he's the best bro-bro,_ ever,_" Mabel beams trying so hard to sound more like herself, like she's OK because she hates that she's got them so worried.

"I wish we could've stayed," Dipper's smile fades into a frown, "we heard you had a rough night."

Mabel's breath hitches at the quick burst of phantom pain in her chest as the memories of the night before flash in her mind and she glances at her shoulder, then the empty bed beside her before looking down at her hands, "Meh, it was…it wasn't a big deal. I just…guess I stood up too fast or something and my ankle couldn't take the weight and then…it was just a minor setback, really."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you," Dipper says placing his hand on her shoulder, causing her to hiss in discomfort. "What'd I do? What's wrong?"

"Nothing major, just managed to get another bruise," she chuckles nervously, "must've banged it on the way down, I don't…I don't remember exactly."

Dipper narrows his eyes at her with mild scrutiny. Mabel knows she's a terrible liar to begin with, and as her twin, Dipper's always the first to catch on during the rare times she tries but he doesn't call her on it. "Can I see?"

Mabel shrugs, "Sure I guess, it's not much of a big deal though." She reaches the collar of the hospital gown and lowers it over her shoulder to reveal a dark purple bruise.

"Mabel…oh man this looks almost like a handprint…" Dipper gasps.

"Hmm, so it does," Mabel tries to sound nonchalant, but to see with fresh eyes the physical reminder of what happened in the Mindscape is terrifying. The bruise is unsurprisingly about the size of her own hand, but the vaguely hand shaped bruise marks her shoulder almost like a brand, like even though she's indebted to Bill, it doesn't mean that her foes in the other timeline are going to give her up that easily.

"It looks bad…"

"Well, it's a little sore but it doesn't bother me..." She hates that she's straight up lying to her brother, but realizes that she's mostly lying to herself because while it doesn't hurt too badly, that much is true, the fact it exists is disconcerting because none of the other attacks left a physical mark like this one. _Oh I hope it doesn't mean anything…_

"Did someone do this to you?" Stan asks, his voice low and dangerous.

"Whoa, whoa, it's nothing like that!" Mabel exclaims, "You guys are making a fuss over nothing, I know you're conspiracy nuts and all, but stop it. Seriously. Now when can I get out of here?"

"Easy there kiddo," Stan grins, "Why don't I go find your doctor and see what he says, OK?"

"OK."

"I might also take a detour to the cafeteria, I'm starved. You kids want anything?"

"I'm good," Dipper says and Mabel nods in agreement. Stan nods once and leaves the room.

Left alone, Mabel flashes Dipper a wan smile, "I'm fine Dipper, stop worrying so much. I swear you're going to give yourself wrinkles before you finish puberty the way you keep frowning like that…"

"You're not OK," he persists, "something's going on that you're not telling me. What is it?"

Mabel glances at the empty bed beside her and catches a quick glimpse of her other self but it's gone in the blink of an eye, "You know I hate hospitals."

"Who doesn't? But that's not what I mean," Dipper persists, following her line of sight. "Did something happen down there with the Portal that we don't know about?"

"I…I…" she stammers, trying to think of _something_ to say, because he's not going to let it go. _Do I tell him the truth? _ As she asks herself the question she understands what Grunkle Stan meant when he said he kept the Portal a secret to protect them. She wants to tell him, she doesn't want to carry this burden alone but the truth would only make things worse for everyone. It would break Grunkle Stan's heart all over again if he knew she knew about Stanley all along, and Dipper…selfishly she fears he wouldn't trust her anymore, but it's not just that. She knows her brother, she knows how far he would go to protect her and the last thing she wants is for him to get hurt or worse.

Apparently she takes too long to answer and Dipper gives her a sad smile, "OK, if you don't want to tell me that's fine, I don't know, maybe you're just not ready? But no matter what, I'm here for you, OK?"

"I know," she nods, returning the smile. Her lips quiver and she can feel herself getting emotional again and she hates it, she hates worrying Dipper, she hates being scared, being in the hospital and in this room, and stuck between two apparently very real timelines and worried that she's doomed them both somehow with her choices. She hates that somehow the Wraiths can still reach her and she _hates _not knowing Bill's endgame.

"Hey, do you think we can get out of here for a while?" she asks softly, her voice shaky and rich with emotion.

"We still have to see what the doctors say…"

"No I mean _here_, out of this room," Mabel clarifies, "I can't stand being cooped up in here like this. Maybe we can go for a walk, have a change in scenery?"

Dipper smiles, "I don't see why not. I'll go ask."

Being left alone in the room leaves Mabel feeling a little jittery and anxious, but when Dipper comes back with a wheelchair and a grin on his face she relaxes, "Your chariot awaits milady," he says theatrically, giving her a grand and dramatic bow.

She can't help but giggle, grateful for the silly gesture and replies with a horrible attempt at a British accent, "Oh why thank you good sir." He takes her hand and helps her into the chair. A nurse, different from the one last night comes in and helps her get situated with the IV stand and oxygen and tells them they'll let their uncle know they're just out for a quick stroll if he gets back before they do.

"So where shall we go first?" Dipper asks.

"Anywhere but here," she replies, reaching for Journal #2 and setting it on her lap. When he gives her a strange look she just shrugs bashfully, "I think…I think maybe we need to talk in private somewhere."

Dipper seems surprised, "Oh! Sure, OK."

As he takes her down the hall Mabel chews on her hair nervously. She can't do this alone, she does need his help, at the very least to help make sense of the journal with his mad research skills so she has to say _something._ But just because she can't tell him _everything_ doesn't mean she can't tell him _anything_.

_I just don't know what to say…_

* * *

A/N As always, thanks for reading everyone. Please let me know what you think, thoughts, theories, criticisms, whatever. It always makes my day and helps feed the muse don'tcha know! (she's HUUNNNNGGGRYYYY!)


	11. Journals

A/N Thanks for making it this far! Before we get started on this next chapter, can we all just take a moment to appreciate how awesome Dipper is? I personally loved writing this chapter because Mystery Twins is best character so I'm glad to finally get Dipper off the sidelines and get him more actively involved. Speaking of Dipper, I hope to get my companion story that I announced in chapter 4 (I think) uploaded soon because Dipper, well _other_ Dipper has his own story to tell, and I want to tell it and I will! That's the thing with writing about two alternate realities, I want to see them both.

Shout out time!

Sally: I assume you're asking about the companion story, it'll be up soon as I just mentioned. :-)

RockSunner: Yeah, I'm glad to (partially) resolve that issue here finally. Thanks as always for reviewing every chapter. You have become one of those constants that I can count on and I always look forward to what you have to say for each new chapter.

Nelli3: Thanks for the lovely reviews! I'm so glad you like this and thanks for following this story faithfully and I hope you stick with me for the long haul!

gravityfalls22: Funny, I don't see how a site dedicating to reading and writing stories based on various fandoms that aims to entertain and/or help build writing skills as social media. I wish I could help talk sense into your dad because while I understand why he'd want to be overprotective about internet safety, and totally respect that, in my opinion there's gotta be a middle ground somewhere. This site is a far cry from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Well, if you have email that you're allowed to use and want to chat and your dad will allow it, my email is my username at yahoo dot ca and I use it just for fanfiction. Seriously, your reviews make me want to discuss things and I can't keep it up like this! Well I can, but...yeah. I'm so glad you like the Wraiths, it means I'm doing my job correctly. Yay! I don't go on Reddit (spoilerphobe here so I avoid things that might potentially spoil me) so I didn't even know there was a Bill AMA on Reddit so I don't know what this Bill AMA is all about, but I see Bill as a Trickster like demon who might be super evil, but is far too complex to be put in a box and could be an ally if it suited his needs. Hence why he saved Mabel, because he needs her to keep her end of the deal, you're spot on there. Love that you picked up on the anomalies returning since I glossed over them last chapter and I LOVE your theories about it. I wish I could explore Stan and the other characters more thoroughly, but that's the problem with choosing to write a story from one character's POV. And yes, I've been in the ER on more than one occasion. It comes from being severely asthmatic. The one experience I drew on most for this was when I was hospitalized with severe pneumonia when I was 10, I almost died. It was scary. I got better though. Obviously. There's more I wanted to mention, but I can't think of it now... hope you like this chapter. There's even a little page mentioned that I was going to put off until later but...

NinNin618: I'm glad you like this story. And there is something very scary about having to stay in the hospital, having a roommate does help a lot. Hope you were OK.

* * *

**Journals**

As Dipper wheels her through the automatic doors and into the sun, Mabel can't help but smile, breathing in deeply as she basks in the warmth of a beautiful summer day. It's so good to be out of that room and out in the warm fresh air. She closes her eyes and for a moment can imagine that everything is right with the world, despite the ache that throbs deep in her bones and the anxiety that won't leave her alone.

"This is nice," she sighs.

"Yeah, it's a really beautiful day," Dipper agrees, "so where to?"

"The Mystery Shack?"

"Ha ha, nice try," Dipper snorts with amusement, "there's a little courtyard over there, looks quiet."

Mabel looks in the direction he points and sees a quaint little area decorated with flowers and a few park benches, "Mabel approves. Go for it bro-bro."

This side of the hospital is nice and quiet, away from ER traffic and there's surprisingly no one around which makes it a perfect place to talk. Mabel's still not sure how much she should tell her brother, but she knows that if she told him everything, she would be putting him at risk. He would do anything to protect her, no matter how crazy or rash, and that scares her. He jumped off a cliff onto a giant Gideon-shaped robot to save her once, and in hindsight, it was miraculous that he didn't get himself killed. They got lucky on so many occasions, and she's afraid of what might happen when _his_ luck ran out. She couldn't live with herself if Dipper got hurt or worse trying to protect her from her deal with Bill or the Wraiths in the other timeline.

"The nurse said you need to be back in half an hour. I guess you have more tests scheduled?" Dipper says as they enter the little courtyard, stopping at one of the benches where he sits down to face her.

"Ugh, _more_ tests," Mabel grouses, blowing a raspberry petulantly, "Boo!"

"Well hey, maybe this time they'll show that you're getting better and let you go home," Dipper points out.

"I hope so," Mabel sighs, "but I don't know. After last night?"

"What exactly happened anyway? Apparently you tried to get up and passed out again?"

"S-something like that," she replies, absently rubbing her shoulder. "I…I thought I s-saw something and…and wanted to check it out. Turned out to be a very bad idea."

"What did you see?"

Mabel looks at the Journal in her lap, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, _OK, here we go…_"A ghost? Maybe?"

Dipper leans forward, his interest levels peaking, "Wait, what? There's a ghost in your room?"

"I don't know," she shakes her head, "I might've imagined it. But is there a way to be sure?"

"Well, yeah," Dipper nods, "I can check and see if there's any readings no problem, I just need the right equipment and stuff." He pulls out Journal #3 from his inside vest pocket, flipping it to the section about ghosts, instantly in ghost hunter mode, "Do you know what kind of ghost it was? If it's a level one or two type ghost, I think we can just get rid of it without me having to get my stuff from the Shack…I'd just need salt and a white candle…"

_Something tells me it's not a level one or two…_

"I'm not sure," Mabel says, reaching for the book, "maybe I'll know it if I see it?"

"Oh, OK," Dipper hands her the Journal, trading it for Journal #2 that still sits on her lap.

Mabel skims through the pages, _Wraith, wraith, wraith…it's not in here!_ She flips quickly through from the beginning, not nearly as familiar with the third journal as her brother, "Is that the only section on ghosts in here?"

"Yeah," he replies, startling suddenly when Mabel snatches #2 from him and returns #3.

_Come on, come on, it's gotta be in here!_ She thinks, _I want to see what it says about them before I potentially freak Dipper out or something if they're one of the really bad ones. _

"You look like you know exactly what you're looking for," Dipper comments, watching her flip through the pages madly.

"These pages aren't making sense!"

"Because you're hardly even looking at them," Dipper retorts with a slightly amused chuckle, but then his expression quickly turns serious, "Hey are you OK? I'm sure I can help you look…"

Mabel sighs in frustration, running her hands down her face when Dipper gently takes the book back. "I tried to look through it last night but…I was, I don't know, too tired and…and…I'm not good at this like you are but…"

"Why are you suddenly interested in the journals anyway?" he asks softly, "Mabel what's going on?"

_What to tell him… what to tell him…? Hey bro, there's like a whole other timeline, one where I let the Portal open which freed the Author who happened to be a jerk who never wanted to be saved, destroyed the Mystery Shack and maybe more of the town, and oh yeah, my other self is dying and possessed by an entity that wants to eat my soul so it can use me to end the world. Any questions?_ Mabel shakes her head, _Oh yeah, _that_ would go over so well if I said that._

"Mabel?"

_So anyway, since I pretty much doomed everyone, I made a deal with Triangle Guy! You remember Bill Cipher, right? _

"Hey," Dipper leans forward, resting his hand on her arm, his eyes rich with concern and support which somehow makes her feel worse.

_Yeah, he gave me a do-over and now I owe him a huge favour and I'm terrified that whatever it is he wants me to do will still manage to doom us all. I'm still not sure _why_ he wanted me to shut off the Portal, but I know it can't be good so no matter what I'm completely screwed! Oh and you wanted to know why I'm sick? It's because I'm still connected to the other timeline where I'm _dying_, and the entity that's latched onto me there can still somehow attack me here._

"I just told you," Mabel winces, knowing full well that she's skirting the issue, "there's a ghost in my room."

"_Mabel!_" Dipper groans, "That's not what I mean and you know it! Maybe if you just started acting weird and stuff this morning, I'd believe that was all this is about, but you haven't been yourself since the Portal. It's like…like night and day! You were perfectly fine and healthy before the Portal, and now look at you!"

"Dipper I'm…"

"Don't you dare say you're fine!" Dipper cuts her off, getting himself worked up, "You look so _frail_! It's not right! Something _happened_ to you down there, and I don't know what! Something that made you mysteriously sick and paranoid and afraid and _not_ yourself! If you don't want to tell me what happened, that's fine I'd understand so just say so and I won't push you anymore."

He tenses clenching his fists as he turns away for a second, clearly fighting back tears. She can easily see what kind of stress she'd inadvertently put him through and Mabel lowers her gaze guiltily as he continues, "But no matter what, I'm going to find out somehow, I'm going to look for answers—not to be nosy, but because you're my sister and I'm scared for you and I want to help because I can't stand to see you like this! So if you don't want to tell me, that's OK and I mean it, but it won't change a thing on my part. But it would make my job as your twin brother who _cares _about you a whole lot easier if you would just _trust_ me and let me in and just tell me, because I would so much rather work _with_ you on this than on my own!"

She blinks, realizing that her eyes are watering with tears again. Oh she _wants_ to tell him so badly, so she won't have to deal with everything alone but that would be so _selfish_ of her. She needs to protect him, him and Grunkle Stan both from the truth because it could hurt them so much, in more ways than one and she can't do that. But she has to stick with the plan and say _something_, because she needs his help and expertise, but more importantly, she _owes_ it to him to not shut him out completely, especially now that she can see what it's been doing to him.

"Aw, Mabel," Dipper relents apologetically when tears fall stubbornly down her face no matter how hard she tries to keep it together, "don't cry, please? I just want to help."

"I know," she sniffs, wiping at her eyes, "and I trust you, always, I just…I don't know what to say exactly. I wish I knew what to tell you but…I'm really not sure…"

"Well, can you try?" Dipper asks, "Maybe we can figure this out together."

Mabel sighs, flashing him a tired smile, "OK. You're right." She pauses, thinks for a moment—_so how much do I tell him? —_and then asks, "Um, I know places can be haunted and stuff, but can _people_ be haunted?"

"Yeah, it's possible," Dipper frowns, furrowing his brow in thought, "why? Do you think you're haunted?"

She shrugs uncertainly, "Maybe."

"Why…what makes you think you're haunted?" Dipper asks quietly, his voice is thick with worry and she can almost see the gears turning in his head as he processes this information.

"Wh-when the Portal opened…" she starts, but stops to back up a bit, realizing she almost accidentally said too much already, "I mean when I _stopped_ it from opening," she corrects herself, "I…it was…I saw something."

"What did you see?"

"I don't…I don't know how to describe it," she replies, wincing because she _hates_ lying to him, and while it's the truth because she _doesn't_ know how to describe it, it still feels so horribly dishonest because she knows she's merely misleading him from the _real_ truth. "Can I see those journals again?" she asks. He hands them to her with a shrug and she takes a deep, calming breath and tries again but this time flipping through the pages a little slower. Journal #2 has a section on ghosts as well, though it's not as thorough as #3 but this time she does stumble across the word _Wraith_. She gasps softly, and Dipper frowns with curiosity, standing up to read over her shoulder.

"What?"

"Uh…I don't know, this might be it," she says, handing it to him, feeling sick to her stomach at what she had read already.

"_Wraith: often considered a synonym for 'ghost', a Wraith is actually different from your typical spirit. I've been unable to find much information about these particular creatures save one rather disturbing account. I believe, due to how rare they are that they are not originally of this Universe," _Dipper reads, his voice getting shakier the more he learns, "_It is my opinion that these parasitic spirits are more akin to demons than ghosts and I hope to never personally encounter one. From what I could gather, Wraiths are parasitic by nature, they will latch onto a host and feed on their life force and are considered harbingers of pain and destruction._"

"Please tell me you're joking," Dipper says, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I wish I was," Mabel murmurs, taking the journal back, looking at the small, crude, yet surprisingly detailed sketch of a person with a tall, menacing and smoke-like creature standing over them. The person's eyes in the sketch are blank and the diagram describes the eyes as looking like glass marbles filled with smoke, just like she had seen when it had mirrored her image. Next to the picture he notes that the smoke-like appearance can shift to take on any form it wants. Stanley had a few minor details wrong from what she had observed so far, but there's no mistaken that this is the passage she'd been looking for.

"OK," he says nervously, "let's see if it says anything else….are you _sure_ this is what you saw in the Portal?"

"Maybe?" Mabel shrugs uncertainly, even though she knows it's right, "It's the way he describes the eyes, exactly like how I saw it."

"It's parasitic by nature," Dipper frowns, "it didn't… it didn't latch onto you, did it?"

"I don't think so but…" _Oh Dipper, how do I say this without freaking you out? _"But I saw eyes like that last night and…and it looked like me."

"It looked like you?" Dipper raises a brow, in thought. He skims the short passage quickly, then takes Journal #3 and skims through it again. To her surprise, he relaxes, "OK, so there's a type of ghost in here that likes to mirror its victims. It's usually benign, likes to mess with people with mostly harmless pranks and…"

"Dipper," Mabel stops him, not wanting him to get his hopes up too much, "Dipper look." She holds up #2 and points to the passage about how Wraiths can shapeshift. "It's the eyes, Dipper. This is it, I know it is. I _watched_ it change from its smoky form to look like me."

He takes the second journal back and skims the page a few times and can practically see the colour drain from his face as it all sinks in, "It…it explains a lot actually. Why didn't you say something in the first place?"

"I didn't want to worry you?" Mabel ducks her head and tries her best to look completely innocent and adorable, knowing that it's the weakest excuse possible. Dipper glares at her, though he's clearly trying to suppress the panic that clearly building within him. "I know," she sighs, "I know it was silly of me to do that, because obviously keeping quiet about it was enough to make you worry but I…I wasn't sure! There was so much going on, there still is and I wasn't entirely sure whether or not I imagined it until I saw it again last night."

Dipper skims the page again and flips through a few more, "It doesn't say anything about getting rid of it…if it's latched onto you I…I don't know how…"

"I don't think they have, but I think they're trying to," Mabel says. _Because they're stuck with the other me, but _I'm_ the version that they need…_

"They? There's more than one?"

"I don't know, but it/they, _whatever_ spoke to me and said 'us' and 'we' even though it seems like just one being," Mabel shrugs, absently rubbing her shoulder before she slowly starts to push herself to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Dipper exclaims, partially standing up to be in a better position to catch her if she falls.

"Relax brother," Mabel rolls her eyes, motioning him to scoot over on the bench as she climbs out of the chair and eases down beside him, "just thought it would be easier to look through the journals together if I sat next to you. I may be a gimp and a little shaky but I'm not completely helpless you know."

"And how many times have you passed out again?" Dipper quips, somewhat exasperated.

"That's just it, for the most part I really do feel fine," Mabel tells him, "honest. A little weak and sore maybe, but not so much that all _this_," she motions to the IV, oxygen and wheelchair before finally pointing at the hospital building with her hand, "feels necessary."

"I think that's where we need to agree to disagree Mabes," Dipper frowns, "because if the doctors are baffled and worried about all your test results, than I am too, _especially_ now that I know about this whole ghost thing. I don't know if it's these Wraiths that are making you sick, or if it's because of the Portal or both or something else entirely, and I realize you don't want to stay here any longer than necessary, and who could blame you? but I'd prefer to play it safe."

"But I don't want to be alone, this place it…it freaks me out," Mabel says quietly, the thought terrifying her, "I was alone last night and then…you know!"

"Actually, I don't," Dipper points out, "not entirely. It attacked you, didn't it?" He tilts his chin towards her shoulder, "It's why there's a bruise on your shoulder shaped like a handprint, am I right?"

Mabel bites her lips, feeling her eyes well up yet again but she wipes them dry and nods. _You're totally right, but there's so much more to it, much, much more…_ _I am in so much trouble and I'm so scared that I'll drag you all down with me…what am I going to do?_

Dipper shudders and wraps his arms around her, "Oh man, Mabel you're shaking. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you."

"Not your fault," she chokes out as she tries not to cry again. She feels as though a weight has been lifted now that Dipper knows about the Wraiths at the very least, but somehow it makes the burden of everything she left out that much heavier.

"Well, that changes now," Dipper says, "there's no way one half of the Mystery Twins should have to deal with a ghost problem like this alone." Mabel huffs a small laugh, grateful for his help. "If these Wraiths or whatever are after you for some reason I'm sure there's a protection spell or something that can keep it/them away from you until we can figure out how to banish them back to wherever they came from. Maybe that will help you get better so they'll let you come home."

Mabel watches quietly as Dipper flips through the pages of Journal #2 but when something catches her attention her eyes widen, "Hey stop! Go back!"

Dipper looks at her curiously and flips back a few pages until Mabel sees it again but he goes too far. Mabel just takes back the book from him and finds the page again herself.

"Hmm, another page about Bill Cipher…" Dipper muses.

"Not that," Mabel says, though it's what initially caught her attention, "these symbols surrounding Bi—Triangle Guy, look familiar?"

"Whoa," Dipper takes the book from her to look at them closely, his eyes wide, "It's gotta be a coincidence."

"Remember what he called us?" Mabel asks, "When You, me and Soos went after him into Grunkle Stan's mind? Pine Tree, Shooting Star and Question Mark," she points at the symbols as she says them, a little unnerved to see her favorite sweater design sketched onto a page about Bill Cipher, "And that's the design on Grunkle Stan's fez, and Gideon's Tent of Telepathy logo…looks like a lot of coincidences to me."

"But this was written before we even existed," Dipper continues to stare at the symbols in awe, "so how is this possible? The only one I can see making sense is Grunkle Stan's fez but even then…and that one's on Robbie's hoodie…oh man, oh man…do you know what this means?"

Mabel shakes her head, terrified. _What's you're endgame Bill?_

"I think it might be a…a prophecy or something," Dipper says, flipping through the pages of the journal again, holding the spot with his thumb. "But a prophecy for what?"

"Hey uh…remember when Bill possessed you and tried to get your journal?"

Dipper visibly tenses and puts the book aside, "How could I forget?" he asks, suddenly quiet as he absently rubs his wrist.

"What did he say to you?" Mabel asks gently, "Why did he want the journal so bad?"

"Said I was getting too close to getting answers…he said he had big plans and didn't want me getting in his way."

Mabel swallows hard, worried about what those 'big plans' truly are, "Do you think he was referring to the Portal?"

"Probably. I mean it makes sense, right? That thing could've torn the universe apart if it opened but…" Dipper pauses, frowning, "but if he wanted the Portal to open, which seems like something he'd want, why _destroy_ the journals? They held the key for making it work…"

"Unless he never wanted the Portal to open in the first place," Mabel says with a shiver. _As bleak as things look in that other timeline, maybe this is worse even if it doesn't seem like it yet. Oh you stupid, horrible evil triangle what do you want? _"Which means I helped him, I did exactly what he wanted."

"Hey, you didn't know and we may not even be right about this," Dipper says, "but if he didn't want the Portal opened, the question is why. If this was what he was talking about, what game is he playing at?"

"I don't know," Mabel sniffs, chewing on her hair again.

"I think it's time we head back. Don't worry about Bill and whatever this page means right now, just concentrate on taking it easy and getting better. I'm going to see what I can do about your ghost problem, that's the biggest issue at the moment. Don't worry, I'm not going to let those Wraiths or whatever might be haunting you hurt you anymore. They're not going to take you if I can help it. We'll get through this," Dipper says reassuringly, though his eyes betray his worry and doubt.

Mabel wraps her arms around him, getting all emotional again, "Thank you."

"No problem," he grins, returning the hug, "I mean, not to brag or anything, but I'm becoming quite the ghost hunter. Remember who defeated a level ten ghost just two nights ago? Me. This should be no problem."

"Actually, I thought that was Pacifica who defeated the level ten," Mabel smirks, even as tears fall from her eyes. Dipper pulls away from the hug and rolls his eyes at her in mock irritation, playing along with the tease. "Of course she couldn't have done it without you so…"

"So those Wraiths don't know who they're dealing with. They're going to learn the hard way that no one messes with my sister and gets away with it!" Dipper exclaims with determination.

Mabel flashes him a small smile, unable to shake her worry.

"We'll figure this out together," Dipper adds, clearly catching onto her uncertainty, "Mystery Twins forever, am I right?" he holds up his fist. "Come on sis, don't leave me hanging…"

She chuckles softly and bumps her fist up against his, "Bloop."

"C'mon, let's go," Dipper sighs, climbing to his feet and taking her hand to help her back in the chair. Mabel is halfway in a standing position before suddenly the energy around them shifts dramatically. The beautiful sunny day has darkened as the sky is filled with a smoky haze, and its hard to breathe. She freezes, unable to move as she sees charred remains of trees and nearby buildings, some of them are still on fire. The hospital looks crippled as well, though still standing. The vision fades in and out, shifting between the chaos of the other timeline and the calm of this one and Mabel gasps as pain strikes her in the chest where the Wraiths had first attacked her before she made the deal with Bill and her shoulder throbs as though it were burned. "Mabel?" Dipper exclaims shaking her slightly, "Mabel what's wrong?"

She can't answer though. Overcome with weakness her eyes roll back and her knees buckle. Dipper catches her before she can hit the ground but it quickly becomes clear that she wouldn't hit the ground anyway. She gasps breathlessly, realizing she's hovering three feet off the ground and climbing.

Dipper acts quickly, taking her hand and grabbing the bench with the other. The bench seems to be bolted to the ground therefore unaffected by the sudden anomaly and acts as their anchor. Mabel closes her eyes in panic at the familiar feeling of gravity trying to pull her in the wrong direction, up, up and away and she has to hold on tight, "Don't let go, Dipper! Don't let go!"

"I won't," Dipper grunts, tightening his grip on her hand as best as he can while struggling to keep his hold on the bench.

The anomaly is over about only thirty seconds after it begins and the twins crash to the ground. "Are you OK?" Dipper asks, a little frantic.

Mabel can't answer though, she can hardly breathe through the thick smoke that only she can perceive. Somehow she detached from her IV again as well as the oxygen cannula that had been in her nose. Her eyes flutter and she curls into herself, wanting the vision and the pain to stop.

"Mabel!" Dipper cries.

She nods as she gasps for breath and the pain begins to subside. The visions fade away and all that remains is a deep throbbing but tolerable ache in her chest and shoulder and the faint smell of sulphur. "I…I'm OK." _It's over…for now._

And then the earth begins to quake.

* * *

A/N Well, thanks for reading, please let me know what you think! Always love to hear any thoughts, theories, predictions or criticisms you might have. Also, I know it's probably paranoia on my part, (I'm like that sometimes) but I'm worried that I've lost readers (especially since chapter 5) and I get it, sometimes people are too busy with RL or whatever, but some people who had been pretty consistent with leaving comments have stopped. It's OK, I don't _expect_ people to review, and I understand if people have lost interest because it happens, but if you've made it this far, please give me a shout so I know you're still here. Feedback of any kind means a lot and definitely keeps me motivated. No pressure but I'd love to hear from you! Either way, whether you choose to leave a comment or not, thanks so much for reading this far and I hope y'all stick with me for the long haul.


	12. FUBAR

A/N Holy guacamole Batman you guys are AWESOME! I am so sorry for the delay. I got a little distracted working on the companion story I've been mentioning before called "Made Me Realize" which is (mostly) Dipper's POV of what's happening in the other timeline. If you were wondering what's going on in that world, the first three chapters are up now so if you haven't yet I hope y'all check it out!

Anyway, the response has been amazing! I think a few shout-outs is in order!

MabelPinesRules: Thank you for the review! You don't have to apologize for not reviewing, as I said I understand that people get busy and I don't expect people to leave comments, but they do make me happy and I'm relieved that I was just being paranoid!

foreversmilin: Wow! It's kind of awesome to know you read this all in one sitting! I must be doing something right! Glad to know I have a new fan!

Emmsta and guest: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it!

Nelli3: Aw, you're awesome, you know that? I don't know where the ideas come from, but this show has been a huge inspiration! The fact that "Not What He Seems" was so amazing, leaving so much potential for what could happen next and the following hiatus keeping us waiting, it helps keep me going because I need to fill that void somehow, right?

The Last Deathly Guardian: OK, epic username for one thing, secondly thanks for the review, I'm glad the last chapter cleared a few things up and that you're enjoying this.

gravityfalls22: Technically she's only fainted three times, unless you're counting the first timeline which would make it four, but she's had a couple of close calls. Poor girl is really getting put through the ringer in this one, isn't she? I'm glad you liked 'hearing' Mabel's internal struggle with telling Dipper and I WISH I could be in leagues with Alex, you know how AWESOME that would be? But alas, I am not. But if someone wants to put in a good word on my behalf...nudge nudge wink, wink! I'm not sure what the purpose of all the characters on the Cipher Wheel is, but I'm very curious to find out. I always intended to bring it up in this as I did, but I was going to do it later but because of you I introduced it sooner. After all, Mabel does want to know what he has to gain from shutting down the portal and the wheel may or may not provide some insight. I hope you will be allowed to email me (it's my username jadefirefly3d at yahoo dot ca (the site won't allow links)). Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer! I ALWAYS look forward to reading your musings and thoughts.

RockSunner: I'm glad Dipper's now (partially) involved too, I love protective Dipper and I love when the Mystery Twins work together. Thanks as always for the comments!

NinNin618: Hello NinNin from Germany! Yes, I can get a little paranoid sometimes but I definitely feel better now! Thanks for the review! I'm happy that you like it.

privateandcadet: Hi! I'm glad you're here!

shootingstar34: I know some people don't allow guest reviews, maybe that's why you had thought you couldn't leave one without an account? Anyway thanks for clicking on my story and sticking with me! I'm glad you like it!

Julia: Thanks! It's kind of awesome that you have this bookmarked! Means a lot!

HappyRaven379: Wow thanks for the compliments! It means a lot for me to get the characters right and if I managed to hit you in the feels, I'm doing something right! I'm happy that you like it so much!

KTDLover: I'm really glad this is one of your favorites! I'm especially glad you like my portrayal of Mabel as I find her to be one of the hardest characters to write for because she's so silly and random. It's part of the reason why I tend to put her in such dire situations where she'd be less silly and random. Does that make sense? Thanks so much for the review!

PurpleLightning12: Thanks so much for the huge compliment! It's really awesome that you read this in one sitting and really means a lot! I'm glad you like the mystery and suspense building and I hope that I don't disappoint!

Anyway, you guys are all so amazing! Here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

**FUBAR**

_What's happening?_ Mabel wonders, as the ground shakes beneath them. Dipper drapes himself over her protectively as they wait out the earthquake. Both of them on their hands and knees on the ground where they had landed after the gravity anomaly. _Do earthquakes even reach as far as Gravity Falls?_ She worries because while parts of California has had its share of earthquakes, she's not sure about central Oregon. _Did the Portal cause this_?

Fortunately the earthquake is short lived and when she looks around after the earth stops moving, there's not a lot of major damage. Most of the damage surrounding them seems to be from the gravity anomaly from what she can see from her vantage point. She breathes a sigh of relief, still unnerved though from the faint smell of sulphur remaining from her fiery vision.

"You OK?" Dipper asks when it's over.

Mabel nods, though she's not quite sure. She aches everywhere and is pretty certain she's got a few new bruises, not to mention yet another bloody and bruised puncture mark on her arm from pulling her stupid IV free. Her ankle seems to hurt even more than it did before and her shoulder throbs, hot and unrelenting. "As good as can be expected I think. You?"

"Y-yeah…" he nods, equally uncertain, a wince crossing his face as he grasps his arm just below his elbow, "What the heck was _that_?"

"I don't know, I thought—Dipper you're bleeding!" Mabel gasps when she sees blood creeping through his fingers where he holds his arm.

He looks at it, almost surprised, "Crap," he moans, his wince deepening.

"Let me see…" she doesn't give him the chance to protest, she just grabs his arm and pulls him towards her, prying his fingers from the wound to see a nasty looking scrape bleeding rather profusely. _You weren't supposed to get hurt! _ She hisses in sympathy, "You need to get that looked at, it looks bad."

"I think I scraped it when we landed after the gravity went all weird again," he muses, taking a tentative look at the wound and hissing at the sight, "looks worse than it feels though."

"Good, but you still need to get that taken care of," Mabel frowns, feeling a little guilty because Dipper had gone out of his way to break her fall and now he's hurt, "keep putting pressure on that!" She instructs as she starts to push herself to her feet only to be stopped by Dipper.

"What are you doing?"

"We gotta get back, remember?"

"But you can't walk, remember?"

"Well the stupid wheelchair is kinda smashed," Mabel points out, gesturing to the chair in question. The anomaly had lifted it pretty high before it was dropped on its side, all bent out of shape, "and _you_ need to get your arm looked at, like, as soon as possible bro-bro."

"And _you_ have a busted ankle and almost passed out again," he retorts.

"Keyword here is 'almost' Dip," she grins weakly.

"Oh, that makes me feel _so_ much better about your well-being, Mabes," he rolls his eyes, pushing himself to his feet, grabbing the two journals and stowing them away in his vest with his free hand. "Stay here, you can't walk so I'll find another chair."

"Uh-uh, not a chance," she says shaking her head, tensing at the thought of being left alone, even for a couple of minutes. "Please Dipper, don't leave me alone."

"I don't really _want_ to but…" he sighs, "OK. Come on," he helps her up with his free hand. They don't need to say anything else, he just clutches at his wound while she wraps her arms around him, grasping him for support as he helps her limp back to the hospital. Every step is agony on her ankle, but fortunately one of the hospital orderlies had apparently seen them struggling and headed their way with another chair and Mabel's both grateful to have it, and resentful of her need for it.

"What happened?" the orderly asks, as Mabel eases into the chair. "You kids OK?"

"He hurt his arm during the gravity anomaly," Mabel explains.

"Gravity anomaly?" the orderly looks confused, "There was another one?"

"You didn't feel it?" Dipper asks.

"No, but apparently there's reports of them happening randomly throughout town, and that earthquake just now…I don't think we've ever had an earthquake here before!" he replies.

_Oh this isn't good…not good, not good. This isn't supposed to happen! Is the other timeline having this issue? Is this what happens when you shut the Portal down once the timer's set? It wasn't bad this time, but what if it happens again?_

Mabel chews her hair, glancing at the blood staining Dipper's hand as he clutches his wound. She's not usually squeamish around blood, and it's not like Dipper hadn't been hurt before, nor is the injury all that serious in the whole scheme of things, but this time is different. This time she can't help but feel responsible, and not just because he scraped his arm while trying to break her fall when gravity returned to normal.

Dipper side glances at her, _You OK?_ He asks silently with his eyes and she nods quickly.

The orderly leads them back inside and takes them to the ER where they immediately take Dipper into one of the curtained cubicles to look after his arm.

"I'm really beginning to hate this place," Dipper quips, sitting on the gurney as he presses some gauze they had given him to his wound as they wait for someone to be free to clean and dress it properly.

"_You're_ hating it? I'm the one who's stuck staying here," Mabel rolls her eyes tiredly, giving him a small smile.

"Well, hopefully they'll let you come home tonight," he says.

"Oh man I hope so," Mabel agrees. "How you holdin' up?" she asks, tilting her chin to his arm.

"It stings, but it could be worse," he shrugs, hissing when he lifts the gauze to take a peek, "ugh, looks ugly though."

"Mabel Pines?" one of the ER nurses says, "Looks like you're supposed to be scheduled for some tests."

She glances at her brother fearfully, she realizes she's being clingy, but she's terrified of being separated from him, "Can't it wait until I know my brother's OK?" she begs.

"Sweetie, he's just got a nasty looking scrape and he's in good hands," the nurse assures her, "a doctor will be by in just a few minutes to patch him up. He's fine."

"You're not going to be alone, there will be nurses and doctors with you for your tests," Dipper points out, "and I'm fine here. I'll meet you in your room when they're done fixing me up. Besides, the sooner you get it over with, sooner you're free right?"

"I guess," Mabel sighs, grasping his free hand and giving it a squeeze.

"We're going to figure this out," Dipper says reassuringly, squeezing her hand back in return. He doesn't need to say another word for her to know what he's talking about. _ I know you're going to do what you can to protect me from the Wraiths, just…be careful OK? I don't want you to get hurt again. _He seems to know what she's thinking when he adds, "It'll be OK. I promise."

Just as the nurse is about to take her away Grunkle Stan tentatively pokes his head through the curtain, relieved to see them. "I swear you kids are going to give me a heart attack!" he exclaims gruffly before turning to Dipper, "What happened to you kid?"

"When we were outside for some air there was another anomaly, just before the earthquake," Dipper explains, "It's just a scrape, looks worse than it is."

"When the nurses paged me to come to the ER after that quake, which by the way _never_ happens here as long as I can tell, I feared the worst, you _do_ realize, right?" Stan asks.

"Sorry Grunkle Stan," Mabel feels herself getting emotional again. _Random gravity anomalies, an earthquake and now Dipper's hurt…did I do this somehow? Because if it was the Portal then…but it couldn't have been the Portal could it? If it's no longer activated, if it never opened how…? _She closes her eyes, anxiety building up again as she wonders if it was all part of Bill's plan or if it was something else. Maybe it was inevitable no matter what she did, maybe the other timeline is experiencing similar anomalies but either way, as absurd as it seems, she can't shake the feeling that she's partially responsible somehow, even if indirectly.

"It's OK kiddo," Stan sighs, patting her on the shoulder, stopping when she hisses in pain and he realizes it's the one with the hand shaped bruise. "Oh, sorry!"

"Can Stan go with her for the tests?" Dipper asks, quickly glancing at Mabel.

"Well..." the nurse sounds unsure, "We kind of need him here at the moment...there's more paperwork and forms we need him to fill out."

"Oh goodie," Stan rolls his eyes sarcastically, "More paperwork. Hurray."

"It's OK," Mabel says, "like you said, I won't be alone. There'll be doctors and nurses around."

"I expect we'll be finished here before you're done all the tests," the nurse says.

"Great, we'll meet you when you're done," Dipper grins, "You'll be fine."

Mabel nods, wiping her eyes, feeling a little silly for being so paranoid, even if it _is_ justified considering everything. "OK. You make sure they take good care of my bro-bro!" Mabel orders Stan.

"I will," he chuckles

"Don't worry," the nurse smiles warmly, "he's in good hands."

"And you take good care of my sister!" Dipper adds with a smile before wincing slightly when he glances down at his bleeding arm. "Ow, ow, ow!"

The nurse wheels her off for her tests. The entire time she's tense with anxiety, especially when she's left alone for a few minutes as the nurses or whoever is with her has to leave for whatever reason. By the time she's done getting poked and prodded and scanned she's exhausted.

Dipper and Stan are there in her room waiting for her when she arrives. Dipper's got a white bandage covering the scrape on his arm but he seems fine, and Mabel's so glad to see that he's OK. Yeah, it wasn't anything too serious, but considering all that had happened, she can't help but be worried about him.

"How're you doing sis?" he asks as she's settles back into bed.

"Glad to be done with all that," she replies tiredly.

"Well, hopefully the results will give us good news," Stan says.

Mabel closes her eyes, "I hope so. I want to get out of here." She glances over at the other bed which is still unoccupied. She sees her other self for just a glimpse, and then she's gone. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to will the apparition away, never to return.

"You OK?" Dipper asks, resting his hand on her arm, catching the fear in her eyes.

"Yeah, just tired and…you know," she admits pointedly.

"Did you…?"

_Did I what? Kinda sorta see a ghost? _"Yeah, just now."

Dipper glances towards the other bed where she had been looking, a worried look on his face. "It's OK now," she assures him, "especially with you guys here."

"What are you kids talking about?" Stan asks, catching on to the fact that there's something they're saying that's left unsaid.

Dipper looks her in the eyes, _Should we tell him?_ He asks silently, not having to say a word. She shakes her head and he nods in understanding. It's not that she doesn't trust Stan, because she does, it's just that she doesn't quite feel comfortable letting him in. Heck, even though it's a relief to have Dipper's help so she's not dealing with everything alone, she's still not entirely comfortable with Dipper knowing even just part of the problems she's been facing. The fact he got hurt shortly after telling him, even though it had nothing to do with her and was because of the gravity anomaly, it only reminds her of one of the many reasons _why_ she's afraid to tell them.

"How's the arm?" she asks glancing at the bandage.

"Hurts a little," he shrugs, "it _really_ stung when they were cleaning it out but it's better now and it didn't need stitches so…"

"That's good."

"I talked to Mom and Dad," Dipper says, "when you were getting tests done. They said they hope you feel better soon and wish they could be here. They might try and come up for the weekend if you're still sick."

Mabel wants to say she's fine, because she really truly doesn't _feel _sick, just tired, so she has to bite her tongue to keep from saying it since it would only lead to an argument that'll take them nowhere. Instead she merely nods with a small smile.

She likes the idea of Mom and Dad visiting, though it makes her slightly apprehensive that they might insist she and Dipper go back with them. Considering the anomalies apparently plaguing the town, the fact she's mysteriously sick and Grunkle Stan's looming legal troubles—because who _knows_ how long before the Government Agents return—it's a very real possibility. But she doesn't want to leave and has a feeling Bill wouldn't like them going home either and she's not sure how to feel about that last part.

"And what is up with the gravity anomalies anyway? And the earthquake?" Dipper continues, looking to Stan for answers, "Are you _sure_ it's not because of the Portal?"

"Kid, as I've said before, it's no longer even working and it was never fully activated," he sighs, "when Mabel shut it off, the anomalies should've stopped with it. I even looked over the machine last night and saw nothing that would indicate it's still even remotely active. I don't know why they're still happening. I'm just relieved that no one has been seriously hurt or worse because of them."

"Except Mabel," Dipper frowns.

"Dipper I'm fi—we don't _know_ what's wrong, don't go blaming Grunkle Stan," Mabel says with a tired sigh, seeing where this conversation is going. "Besides, it's not that bad."

"Oh _really_?" Dipper folds his arms, skeptical.

"Well, it could be worse, and it isn't." _Trust me, it could be so much worse…_

"It's bad enough," Dipper frowns and she knows he's not just referring to her mystery illness.

Mabel looks him in the eyes, nodding with understanding, "I know."

Without saying a word though, she can see in Dipper's eyes just how worried he is. He subconsciously reaches for the journal in his vest pocket and bites his lip, his piercing gaze saying so much. _I'm going to fix this somehow. Don't worry I'm going to find a way to protect you._ He doesn't have to say it for Mabel to know that's what he's thinking. They don't exactly have twin telepathy, but they know each other so well that sometimes words aren't necessary.

_I know, but please be careful._

His frown turns into a reassuring grin and he nods.

"Anyway, we might not know what's wrong with you exactly, but we _do_ know it's because of the Portal. The energy in that room, by the switch especially…it was weird and powerful and you were right next to it, Mabel," Dipper says, "And the anomalies and earthquake, they didn't start before the Portal was activated and it would be a crazy coincidence if they had nothing to do with it." He looks to Grunkle Stan, "So I think this _is_ all because of Stan." He sounds mildly angry, but there's no accusation in his tone.

"If I had known this would happen….I never wanted you kids to get hurt. I just wanted my brother back."

"I know," Dipper's voice is surprisingly understanding, "but that's why we have to try and fix this."

"How?" Mabel asks worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but we need to figure this out somehow," Dipper replies, "before it gets worse."

_Oh it will get worse…much worse…_

The voice in the back of Mabel's mind startles her and she can vaguely smell smoke again.

_Just you wait little one…_

She glances towards the other bed and sees her other self lying moribund, her image is transparent and ghostly. The Wraiths stand at the foot of her bed mimicking her appearance, grinning an unnaturally wide grin as it waves knowingly at her. Her breath hitches in fear at the sight and she closes her eyes, but when she opens them again the apparition is gone.

"Mabel, it's OK," Dipper says, sensing her paranoia, "we're all in this together."

"Yeah, we'll figure this out," Stan agrees.

Before she can say anything in response a doctor comes in holding a chart, "Hello Mabel, how are you feeling today?"

"Great," she replies quickly, desperately, "can I go now?" _I'm not safe here…_

"Very funny," he says, "but unfortunately not yet. One more night at the very least, possibly two."

Mabel feels like she's going to cry. She _hates _it here and the thought of another night alone in this room is terrifying. Even if Dipper managed to find a way to protect her and keep the Wraiths from attacking her somehow, it wouldn't change the fact that they were still there, in such close proximity. And what about Bill?

The doctor continues, seemingly oblivious to her reaction. "We haven't gotten all your test results yet but so far there's not much improvement and I heard that you had another fainting incident?"

Mabel shoots Dipper a look, "Traitor," she pouts petulantly, but without any real anger, "Got a little dizzy I guess but I didn't pass out."

"Well, I'm still not satisfied with your blood counts and vitals and to be quite frank, considering everything we've seen so far, I'm rather amazed you're even conscious," he frowns, "So unless this latest round of tests gives us some solid answers, I'm afraid I may need to order more tests to try and find a proper diagnosis and unfortunately they're a little more invasive. So far we still can't find any cause of your symptoms, and any illness wouldn't come as quickly as it apparently did."

"What do you mean 'invasive'?" Mabel asks, tensing, "Like surgery?" _Oh come on! It can't be _that_ bad! I _feel_ fine! This is ridiculous! Besides no _test_ is going to tell you that I've got these mysterious symptoms because I'm still linked to another version of myself who's seriously injured in another timeline._

"Not quite, but some will require sedation," he says, "I hope it won't come to that but we'll know more when I get the rest of your results." He looks her over quickly, glances at the numbers on the monitor and scribbles something down on her chart before leaving.

"Just a quick check up, they said," Mabel grouses when he's gone, folding her arms and glaring at her family, "just to make sure, they said! I want to go home! I don't want to do more tests when I. Feel. FINE!"

"Whoa, jeez kid calm down," Stan exclaims, "I'm glad you're feeling OK, but it's better safe than sorry."

"I don't want to spend another night in this room alone!" she continues, feeling the stupid tears come, "And more _tests_!? I don't know why I keep passing out, I don't know why things look worse than they are but I'm fine!" She's not lying when she says this, because even though Bill explained the reason, the situation is all too overwhelming for it to make sense. "I'm tired, sure but I don't _feel _as sick as you all seem to think I am! Can't I just rest in our room in the Mystery Shack? I don't care if we have to come back for more check-ups and stuff, but why do I need to stay _here_?"

"Mabel," Dipper says soothingly, "I know why you don't want to stay here alone, but don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"_How_?" she cries. "And if we're all supposed to be in this together, what good am I if I'm stuck _here_?"

"Mabel honey," Stan leans forward, glancing at the monitor tracking her vitals, "you need to calm down, OK? I know you want to go home and believe me if I could make that happen I would but we're both worried about you."

"And you think I'm not worried about _you_?" Mabel asks.

"We're not the ones who are sick," Dipper points out gently.

"Doesn't matter," she replies, shaking her head vehemently, "With everything that's happened I don't like the idea of us being separated…you got _hurt_ today Dipper."

"It was just a scrape…a _nasty_ looking scrape but nothing serious," Dipper reminds her.

"This time! But what about next time?" Mabel snaps, "You got hurt and I can't shake the feeling that it's my fault somehow!"

"Really? I didn't realize that you had the power to turn off gravity…" Dipper muses jokingly, "Grunkle Stan did you know that she could do that?"

"Had no idea," Stan nods, playing along, "pretty impressive skills you got there kid. Bet you could make a decent living working for NASA."

Even when on the verge of an emotional breakdown she can't help but grin, giving a soft chuckle, "That's not what I mean! But what if they're back _because _I shut the Portal off? What if it reached a point where it couldn't be safely shut down? Is that possible?"_ What if my deal with Bill had something to do with this?_

"Don't see how it could be, kid," Stan tells her, "but even if it were, it doesn't make it your fault. You're being ridiculous honey for thinking that way. If anyone should be taking the blame, it's me."

_Oh but it is your fault little one…you should've just let go…_

The voice in her head startles her and she twitches, burying her face in her hands.

"Mabel, it's going to be OK," Dipper soothes, combing his fingers through her hair, tucking the thick brown locks behind her ear.

_You think it's bad now child? No, it's going to get worse, it's going to get so much worse…_

"No!" she whimpers at the voice in the back of her mind, the familiar and terrifying voice, _Go away! Go away!_ She rolls on her side, away from the empty bed beside her, knowing if she looks she'd just get another glimpse of the other timeline and see the Wraiths copy her image and attack. She grasps Dipper's hand, turning towards him instead, clutching his hand like a lifeline.

"Sweetie you need to calm down," Stan soothes, "you're making yourself sick…"

_Just you wait…you should've just surrendered, you should've let go…and now your brother's going to burn…_

_Leave him alone!_

_Let go then child, let go and he will be spared…_

"Mabel? Hey sis are you OK?" Dipper asks worriedly, as her pulse begins to race, the monitor she's connected to beeping in response. Stan leans forward, shifting in his seat, equally worried.

_Go away, you can't get me here! And you're useless over there! You can't trick me!_

_The dream demon can't protect you forever…_

_Yes he can, and he will!_ She thinks, fully aware of how crazy it is that in that moment she's rooting for Bill Cipher, apparently the lesser of two evils this time around. It only cements the fact that she's completely screwed, even with Dipper's help. She might've surrendered to the Wraiths to keep him safe if it weren't for the knowledge that without her they're too weak to wreak havoc in the other timeline, and she's their only link to this timeline, which makes their threat against both Dippers empty. Staying strong and resisting with everything she has is the only way to keep _everyone_ safe so she grits her teeth and fights with all she has as she rides through the wave of pain that's taken over her.

_Of course he will little one, so long as you are still of use to him…but once he's done with you…you'll be ours…_

She cries out in pain, the bruise on her shoulder burning like a brand as the invisible wound on her chest takes her breath away.

_And yet where's your dream demon now?_

"Mabel!" Dipper gently tries to get her to look at him but she squeezes her eyes shut with a whimper, her whole body tense. "Stan, get the doctor!"

"I'm on it!" she hears Stan reply but it barely registers.

"Mabel, what's wrong?" Dipper asks, his voice frantic, "It's the Wraiths…isn't it?" she nods quickly. He lets go of her hand and she instead clutches at her blankets with a white knuckled grip as she fights through the sudden pain. She's vaguely aware of the sound of him flipping through pages and she knows he's got one of the journals out in front of him.

_There's no escape…just let go…surrender…stop fighting and everything will be all right._

_No, no, no!_

"Hold on, sis," Dipper says, "just hold on…"

For a brief second she wishes Bill would show up and fend them off like last time, but the instant the thought comes she banishes it from her mind because how messed up is that?

* * *

A/N Thanks so much for reading, you guys have really made me happy! Please let me know what you think! Any feedback you have to give, good or bad, means so much to me!

And if you haven't already, be sure to check out "Made Me Realize" if you're curious about the other timeline.


	13. Attack

A/N So sorry for the delay! Writer's block and real life really knows how to steal a girl's momentum. Ugh. You guys are awesome though and help keep me going. I really struggled with this one, and am not too thrilled with the result, as it didn't quite turn out how it looked in my head. Hope you guys enjoy and that it was worth the wait (again, sorry).

Thanks to my lovely reviewers!

shootingstar34: Your English is fine but I think there's a glitch because some words are missing from your reviews but I get the gist of it, so it's OK. Thanks for being a faithful reviewer as always. I'm happy that my story is one of your favorites.

Lauren: Thanks for the review! I'm glad that I'm able to keep things interesting.

The Last Deathly Guardian: Your review is awesome. I'm glad you like the Wraiths, and you can certainly keep them as your pets, but careful, they may turn on you. Sorry to put your brain and heart through so much intense suspense. OK, not really, because that's the reaction I hope for, you know? I'm glad you're loving my story thanks so much for the review!

guest (May22): Thanks for the review!

KTDLover: Yeah, Mabel's stuck in quite the Catch-22 isn't she? I'm happy that Dipper's in on part of the problems Mabel's facing because I love it when the Mystery Twins work together, always have, and she shouldn't have to deal with everything alone, that's for sure. The cause of the earthquakes (and anomalies) will be explained eventually. Thanks so much for the review, I'm really happy that you like this! Hope you like the next chapter!

gravityfalls22: Don't have much to say for once, but first of all, get out of my head (you'll see why), and second of all I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Your reviews are AWESOME and I've really liked talking to you via email and sharing theories with you. I know I've mentioned it once or twice but I'm so excited to see this fanart you're working on! It's a huge honour that this inspired you to draw the Wraiths.

TMNTGFKittySidekick01: Sorry for being so slow on the update, I'm glad you like this and it's really cool that you've been following since practically the beginning. Loved your review, it made me laugh.

NyuNekoNya: Thanks for the review, I hope you like this chapter.

guest (June23): Sorry for the slow update! "Made Me Realize" should be updated soon, I've had too much on my plate lately so I haven't had time to focus on both. Glad you like my stories!

Annagraham: Love your name, and thank you so much for the wonderful compliment! I'm truly flattered that you like this so much! Hope you like this chapter!

If I missed anyone I apologize! I value every comment I receive, so thanks to everyone who's reviewed and/or has followed/favourited this as well!

Without further ado, here we go!

* * *

**Attack**

There isn't much Mabel can do to defend herself against the Wraiths as they viciously attack her once again. She can feel them tugging at her, her body tingling and surging with that strange energy, and she's overwhelmed with pain and that same sensation of both floating and falling that she had felt before. All she can do is close her eyes tight and hold on for dear life.

"D-don't let m-me float away!" she begs absently, clutching at her blanket and doing her best to focus on Dipper's voice as he begins to speak words she can hardly hear or even understand. His voice is muffled, like she's listening to him from underwater, but she can hear the determination and panic in his voice. As he speaks he grasps her clenched fist and she wants to take his comforting hand, needing him as an anchor to hold on to, but her body is so tense she can't uncurl her fingers to grasp his in return.

_Let go, child, let go…_

"No!" she shakes her head, "No!"

She can smell sulphur and smoke, wrapping around her and stealing her breath away, her shoulder burns, her chest feels like it's being crushed under the tension and pressure, she can't move, she can't breathe, she can only hold on.

"D-don't l-let th-them take m-m-me…"

_Let go and your brother will be spared…_

"Hold on," Dipper says frantically, "this isn't working, let me try something else…" He briefly releases her hand to presumably flip through the pages of the journal before taking her hand once again.

_Let go…let go and everything will be all right…_

She tries to ignore the call of the Wraiths and tries to focus on Dipper's voice as he speaks more words that make no sense, clearly in some other language, and the Wraiths only laugh at his attempt. The sound of their laughter cuts right into her soul. It is unlike anything she's ever heard before. She thought they sounded terrifying when they were beckoning to her, or furious with her, or threatening her, but their laughter, their amused laughter was _beyond_ terrifying. Not only is the sound horrific and dissonant, but it only highlights the futility of Dipper's attempts at stopping them.

_Foolish child, thinks a few magic words will be all it takes to defeat us? Your brother can't protect you, he's going to burn, he's going to burn, he's going to burn…_

_Leave him alone…_she silently begs helplessly.

She manages to open her eyes a sliver, and she can see Dipper trying furiously to save her from the creatures that only she can see or feel as he chants foreign words in the journal, looking around blindly, not knowing where to direct his words. But she can also see smoke everywhere, and flames licking at the privacy curtain around them, and the walls behind him. Dipper is completely unaware of the fire surrounding them but she can feel the heat and the smoke and she can't breathe, she can't escape and she can't even begin to fight it.

_Let go, let go and he will be spared…_

_He can't protect you. He's going to burn and it will be your fault…your fault… Just let go, surrender to us and he will be spared._

"N-no!" she gasps weakly, struggling for air.

"Hold on, Mabel," Dipper begs, she can see him put the journal aside, and lean forward to wrap his arms around her, tears falling down his face, "hold on…I've got you, I've got you…just breathe, OK? Breathe…." he pulls her tense body towards him until her head is resting on his shoulder and he holds her tight, "Leave her alone!" he snaps defencelessly.

"D-don't let g-go D-dipper…" she begs faintly, sobbing into his shoulder.

"I won't, I won't…" he replies softly, his voice breaking.

_There's no escape…nothing can save you…sooner or later you will belong to us…Surrender…everything will be all right…you just have to surrender, let go…let go…_

_Never! Leave me alone! Go away! You're not supposed to be here! You can't have me!_

_You think your dream demon will stop us? Then where is he, child? You think your foolish deal will protect you? _

_Your brother's going to burn!_

Mabel chokes out a garbled cry as all at once she's enveloped in suffocating heat and she's forcibly yanked away from her brother.

She's surrounded by a swirling thick cloud of smoke and can barely see anything. She falls to her knees, choking and coughing, grasping at her chest, her whole body buzzing with strange and electric energy that stings and burns. The smoke stops swirling to take shape until it once again looks like a twisted reflection of herself. She looks around and can see that she's no longer connected to her body, and she frantically crawls backwards away from the parasitic spirit.

On one bed she can see herself, still in Dipper's arms as Stan followed by a small team of nurses walk in in slow motion, on the other, herself from the other timeline still trapped in a comatose state, wrapped in the same grey aura that binds her to the Wraiths. The other Dipper is there too, keeping vigil. He looks like he's asleep, his head resting on his folded arms on the rail of her bed, unaware of what's happening around him.

_Let go,_ the Wraiths tell her, reaching out to her temptingly, _it will be all right if you just let go, surrender, join us on this side…join us and your brother will be spared…_

"Never!" she hisses, "Leave Dipper alone! Don't you dare touch my family!"

_He's going to burn, they're going to suffer…all of them…every single person you've ever cared about…they're going to suffer unless…._They grin an unnaturally wide grin, beckoning her to come to them. _Just let go little one…it will be all right…stop fighting us and you will see…_

"No!" she snaps, backing away, "You can't have me! You cannot have my soul! You cannot _use_ me to…to whatever destructive endgame you're playing at!"

_You think you have it better with your dream demon? You think the future he has in store is any better? Think again…your choice child, let go…surrender…come to us…everything will be all right…_

"Forget it!"

_Very well…there's no escape little one…just wait and see…you think it's bad now…you should've just let go…_

"You keep saying that, but all I've seen you do is some stupid tricks, you're pathetic!" Mabel hisses, backing away, tired of being pushed around, tired of living in fear. So even though she's terrified she tries not to show it, instead she snaps angrily, "You're _nothing_ without me, you're desperate. I will _never_ surrender to you, it's not going to happen! I'm…I'm going to stop you!"

The wispy apparition laughs and backs up to the other bed where her other self lies, gliding like mist in the wind. With a wide smile they reach for the other Dipper, smoky tendrils caress his face and he opens his eyes and lifts his head in slow motion.

"Leave him alone!"

_You cannot defeat us, you cannot escape us. Once your dream demon is done with you, you will be ours. _

_Your brother's going to burn…_

"Dipper!" she shouts in desperation, as though she could somehow get his attention, even as a ghost. _Bill said I can see and feel and sometimes even touch the other side…_ she thinks, _there's got to be a way to defeat them. There's got to be a way out of this!_ "DIPPER!" she shouts to the other timeline's version of her brother. To her surprise he slowly turns his head towards her, as though he can almost hear her. "Wraith! You need to find out how to defeat Wraiths! They've come through the Portal, they've latched on to me and want to use me to destroy everything! You got to stop them! OK, Dipper? You have to stop them!"

Other Dipper, still moving in slow motion looks confused, his mouth slowly starting to form her name.

The Wraiths are unimpressed, the wide grin turning to a frightening scowl. Empty, smoke-filled eyes narrow with rage.

_You shouldn't have done that…_

"Why? Feeling threatened? So there _is_ a way to stop you, isn't there?" she grins determinedly, despite the terror she keeps hidden deep within. She _can't_ let them see her fear. "You really are pathetic! You're _nothing_ without me, and you think _I _will surrender to _you_?"

_We may be powerless to take your soul in your timeline, little one, not until your dream demon is done with you or you surrender to us, but that doesn't mean we can't have a taste! _They hiss furiously, suddenly advancing at top speed. The fingers on their smoky hands elongate into long sharp claws and she instinctively hold her hands up to defend herself, even though the action is useless. They cut into her chest, in the same place they had originally struck her, but this time it's different, the pain is the same but this time it leaves a mark on her soul. She screams in agony as they shift into a swirling mist, wrapping around her, claws digging in and twisting like a knife. The only shape the Wraiths maintain is a vague resemblance of her face as it glares at her.

_Just you wait little one… it did not have to happen this way, all you needed to do was let go… surrender…maybe then we might have shown mercy…_

Suddenly the assault stops and their surroundings dull into shades of black, white and grey, except for her and the bright yellow triangle that suddenly appears between them.

"Hey guys!" he waves his stick figured hand, "Heard you were having a party without me! So… what'd I miss?"

Mabel collapses to the floor, her soul throbbing with bizarre, indescribable pain, a strange kind of agony, and an unsettling numbness taking over her. She looks down to see her spirit is still in colour like it usually is in the Mindscape, but it's muted somehow save the unnaturally bright shade of crimson blooming from the wound they left on her chest. She puts a trembling hand on the wound and looks up at Bill Cipher and the Wraiths.

"Looks like someone hasn't been playing nice," he scolds his eye narrowing menacingly and the Wraiths hiss, backing off, "What did I tell you? So long as she's bound to our _deal _she's _mine_!"

Suddenly, with the snap of his fingers she's back in her body, gasping for breath like a fish out of water, writhing helplessly from pain, completely disoriented.

"Breathe, Mabel," one of the nurses tells her, "Come on, take deep breaths can you do that for me?"

She tries, but her lungs burn as though on fire, an unbearable pressure and shooting pain in her chest. Mabel's body tenses and her eyes dart around blindly, seeking out her brother, "D-Dip-p…" she sees him being loosely held back by Stan, but when her eyes meet his and she weakly reaches for him Stan lets go and Dipper grasps her hand, still standing back to give the medical staff room. As the nurses work, she doesn't take her eyes off Dipper or Stan, who stands behind her brother with a supportive hand on his shoulder.

One of the nurses leaves the room as the others try and calmly help her get her breathing under control, coaching her to take slow, deep breaths. She's trying, but it's so hard to draw in a decent breath with the crushing pressure in her chest, pain and panic gripping her tight.

"Come on," one of the nurses soothes calmly and gently, "deep breaths, you can do it. Breathe."

Dipper's mouthing the word, silently urging her to breathe, completely distraught. Her eyes flutter and she tries, she really tries, but she hurts so much and she's still tense and hyperventilating and she blinks back tears because she doesn't know what else to do.

_What did they do to me?_ She wonders helplessly.

"Mabel," Dipper pleads, his voice breaking, "come on sis, you need to breathe, you need to calm down!" he pauses, his expression darkening, "A-are they still…?"

She knows what he's asking and she shakes her head. _Bill Cipher drove them off…and I don't know if I should be grateful or terrified…_

"Oh man, her pulse is just racing," Stan says absently, shaking his head as he quickly glances at the monitor, his eyes wide with worry, "Mabel, sweetie _please._"

She can hear the guilt and pain in his voice and she chokes a sob, trying so hard to get her breathing under control. _Don't feel guilty, Grunkle Stan…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…This is my fault…I'm so screwed and I don't know what to do…_

Finally, after what feels like forever but probably wasn't very long at all, Mabel is able to draw in one deep breath, and then another, and then another and the overwhelming pressure on her chest and lungs slowly lift, making the simple act of breathing easier. Everything hurts, but she's slowly beginning to calm down, her eyes getting heavy and her body slowly beginning to relax except for the occasional muscle spasm.

"What happened?" Stan asks in bewilderment.

"From the looks of things she had a panic attack," a nurse explains, "when the doctor gets here we can find out more and maybe get you something to help you relax, OK?"

Mabel nods weakly, coughing a couple of times as she shakily tries to sit up, but the nurse gently motions her to lie down and adjusts the bed a little and props the pillow from the other bed beside her to help her sit up. She's so depleted of strength that she allows the help, because if she's to be honest with herself there's no way she'd be able to do much of anything on her own power, at least not now. "Thanks," she whispers hoarsely, giving the nurse a grateful smile even though it's clear to everyone she's trying so hard not to break down and cry. She finds that it's easier to breathe and there's less pressure on her chest now that she's in a sitting position and she relishes the small relief it brings.

Meanwhile Dipper wipes the tears from his eyes, shrugging away from Stan's comforting grip on his shoulder and grabs her arm, mindful of the IV, "I'm sorry," he murmurs, "I… I tried."

"I know," Mabel nods, "I know you did." She smiles at him tiredly, her eyes expressing her thanks as she takes his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

The doctor and other nurse return and the doctor goes over her chart, checks her vitals with a frown and then says, "So I hear you had an anxiety attack."

"I guess."

"Mabel, do you know what triggered this attack?" the he asks softly.

"Uh…no," she replies meekly, because somehow she doubts that they'd believe the truth, not that she'd trust them with it anyway.

"Is there something going on in your life that's causing you stress, more than you feel like you can handle?"

To everyone's surprise Mabel laughs. It's the kind of laugh that comes from someone who is clearly at the end of their rope, frantic, bitterly amused and bordering on tears. She clutches at her aching chest, her laughter threatening a relapse as she tries to catch her breath between laughter, but she shakes her head, a sad grin on her face, "Oh doc, you have no idea." _Try the weight of the world. Try the fact that there's two timelines I'm responsible for and two demonic creatures that are fighting over my soul or whatever...and that doesn't even _begin_ to cover it._

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asks.

She shakes her head, her laughter breaking into a choked sob as she shies away, realizing her behaviour has her family worried but she has no idea what to do right now. Of all the things that's stressing her out, there's only one thing she's willing to share with the doctor, "OK, how about the fact that everything was going great, a super fun happy summer with my bro-bro and my Grunkle, meeting new friends, having fun adventures and basically the best summer ever and then…then suddenly…"

_Suddenly we learn that Grunkle Stan was living a lie, suddenly everything we thought we knew was wrong and we were betrayed and the world was on my shoulders and I chose wrong, I chose wrong and now everything is falling apart, I'm in danger, my_ family's _in danger because no matter what I did I chose wrong!_

She takes a deep breath, "Suddenly I'm stuck here in this stupid hospital, and no one can figure out what's wrong with me!" She sounds harsher than she intends to, but she doesn't care at the moment. She's not safe here and the worst part is that she knows that after this 'anxiety attack' incident, they're _definitely_ not going to let her go home now.

"Mabel…" Dipper murmurs gently, trying to keep her calm.

"This place freaks me out," she adds, "I hate it here, and I'm freaked out by this place." She subconsciously looks to the other side of the room which is mercifully free of any apparitions of the other reality.

_Besides, this so-called _illness_ is supernatural, there's nothing you doctors can do for me here. I need to get away from here, from this room where..._

The doctor nods in understanding, "I know that a hospital can be a scary place for a kid, and being so far from home and sick and not knowing what's wrong, I can see how that can be very scary and frustrating."

"It…it is," she nods, glancing away from everyone, focusing on a small tear in her blanket that had long ago been stitched back up like it's the most interesting thing in the room. She winces and grasps at her chest with a trembling hand, everything aches but the place where the Wraiths struck her spirit hurts the most and she feels hollow somehow. _What did they do to me?_

"Well, I'm going to prescribe a mild sedative to help you relax and something for the pain, OK?"

She nods absently and they leave the room.

"Mabel...what happened to you?" Dipper asks quietly.

Mabel glances back and forth between Dipper and Stan and sighs, "Grunkle Stan…can I talk to Dipper in private for a sec?"

Stan nods, "Yeah, sure thing kid." She catches something in his eyes as he turns to leave, and she knows that he's caught on that there's something they're not telling him. He's no fool. She's glad he's not calling her on it, but then again, if he called them out on keeping secrets from him that would make him the biggest hypocrite of all.

"What happened, Mabel? Oh man, you scared me half to death!" Dipper exclaims, pacing a little, absently clutching the scrape on his arm, distraught, "You were suffering so much and I…I couldn't do anything to help you!" He stops pacing, approaching her with a raw and pained look in his eyes, "Y-you stopped breathing for a moment, I was so s-scared that…I thought I was losing you and I was completely powerless to save you!"

Mabel blinks back tears and reaches out for him, "Dipper I'm…"

"Please Mabel, don't say you're fine."

"But I'm not fine," Mabel admits, her lower lip quivering, "I'm tired, I'm scared and everything hurts. I don't know what to do…This attack…it was like last night but…but so much worse."

"Did anything that I tried help at all?"

"I don't know," she replies honestly, "they…the Wraiths…they tried to get me but…I don't think they're strong enough to latch onto me, or hurt anyone else and it's making them angry, I think….I think they were lashing out."

"But why _you_?"

"Maybe…maybe because I was closest to them when the Portal op—when they escaped the Portal before I could close it," she winces from the half-truths she keeps telling, and she hates how its getting easier to come up with these misleading half-truths. _It's to protect them... _she tells herself, "Maybe that somehow made us linked but…but I don't think they've latched onto me, yet. They're trying but…it's not working. I think."

"How could you be sure?"

The pain in her chest flares up, as does the bruise on her shoulder giving her doubts of her own, "I don't know. But I do know that I've got to get out of here. I'm not safe here."

"But the doctor…"

"I think it's the Wraiths that are making me sick, and if that's true no test is going to tell them that, there's not much they can do for me here. Here we're limited. But at home, at the Mystery Shack…there's the journals and we have more freedom there."

Dipper looks torn, he scratches at the bandage on his arm in thought, "You have a point, but…I don't know…" he frowns, "I think…we should tell Grunkle Stan about this. He might've lied to us about the journals and everything but…he might know what to do."

"Maybe," she sighs, clutching at her aching chest. There doesn't seem to be a physical wound left behind, but she can feel it in her soul, a painful sensation that she can't even begin to describe but leaves her feeling drained.

"Oh man, I never felt so helpless in my life like I did just now," Dipper laments, "you were suffering so much, and I knew they were attacking you but…I couldn't see them or feel them and the banishment spells I tried didn't seem to do anything to help you…I wish I had my blacklight…maybe there is something that's hidden that will tell us how to stop them…"

She can see the gears turning in his head and knows that he won't stop until she's safe. She blinks back tears, glancing away knowing that there's not much he could do. The mark their attack left on her, the invisible wound she can still feel seeping from her soul, makes her wonder if they're too late. Even if he could stop the Wraiths, and the fact that they seemed threatened when she managed to reach the other Dipper tells her that maybe it's still possible somehow, however difficult, there's still her deal with Bill to contend with.

While Bill's adamant about keeping her in the dark when it comes to what he wants from her, she knows that it's not good. When he comes to collect, it seems like a very real possibility that the consequences could be worse than in the other timeline. Either way she's screwed, but the worst part is knowing that she could very well be dragging her family down with her. She's convinced now, that no matter what they do, no matter what they might accomplish, it's completely hopeless. There's no way out of this.

"Mabel," Dipper soothes, "we'll figure this out."

"Yeah," she nods, her voice empty.

A nurse comes in and adds something to her IV drip, telling her that it will help her relax and sleep and then leaves. Grunkle Stan peeks tentatively through the door and Mabel, quickly feeling the effects of the medicine take hold, nods and he steps in.

"You can tell him," she says to Dipper, glancing at Stan with a small smile. She yawns, "Oh that stuff works really fast…'m so tired…Please don't leave me alone, OK?"

"We'll be right here when you wake up," Stan promises, combing his hand through her hair with an affectionate but sad smile.

"We're not going anywhere," Dipper adds.

She forces a tired grin, glad to know they have her back, even though she knows it's useless, that the Wraiths have proven that they can do great damage whether she's alone or not. But at least she doesn't have to face them completely alone. And she's relieved that for now, so long as she never let's go and surrenders, that the Wraiths can't hurt them. _Do what you want to me, but you're not going to _touch_ my family, you won't hurt my brother…I won't let you._

It takes no time at all for the meds to kick in and soon she's in a deep sleep. Her dreams take her to the Portal room, back to the moment when the weight of the world was on her shoulders, when whatever choice she made would determine the future, but this time it's different.

She's alone in the room this time, gravity is pulling her up and towards the machine and she looks behind her at the swirling vortex, but it's no longer a rainbow of light, there are no stars, everything is just various shade of grey, circling the black nothingness of Limbo. She grasps at the switch for dear life, the idea of being sucked into the Void is the most terrifying thing of all. She looks down and sees that she's in her pink shooting star sweater this time, and while she's the only thing in colour in her dream world, her colours are muted, and the wound the Wraiths left on her chest glows white as it seeps what looks like blood. She closes her eyes and holds on tight.

"Figures your dreams would take you here," a voice says from behind her. She looks towards the familiar sound and sees the circle of the portal is now like an eye, the inverted triangle of the machine is yellow and Bill blinks at her and waves, flipping over and turning to his normal size. He snaps his fingers and she falls to the ground, her surroundings turning to nothingness.

He floats towards her and circles her with scrutiny, stopping in front of her, "Didn't I tell you to watch your back Shooting Star? Look at you, you're a mess!"

"Where were you?" she demands breathlessly, looking him in the eye, too frightened to look around and see the nothingness around them, too scared of the possibility that he pulled her back into the Void of Limbo once again.

"None of your business sweetheart," he shrugs.

"But aren't I just your _investment_ that you want to protect? Isn't it supposed to be in your best interest that I'm not harmed or something?" she hisses venomously. "Where were you when they _attacked _me? What took you so long?"

"Meh, you and Pine Tree seemed to have had it all under control," Bill shrugs casually but then bursts into laughter, thoroughly amused with himself, "aw man, I _knew_ I couldn't say that with a straight face. If I had a mouth I'd be smiling at how funny that is!"

"What did they do to me?" she asks, clutching weakly at the wound on her chest.

"Oh relax," he scoffs, "I stopped them before they could do too much damage. Besides, you're talking like I owe you or something. Like just because we made a deal I should be available to help you at a moment's notice. I own you, not the other way around, kiddo."

"Yeah well, what good am I to you if they keep attacking me like this?"

"I'll admit they are becoming quite the nuisance, but that's only because they're desperate, haha. It's kind of pathetic really." He floats closer to her, "Here, let me take care of that," he points to the wound and she shies away an angry scowl on her face.

"Don't touch me!"

"Won't do either of us any good if we let that fester," Bill rolls his eye and places his stick figure hand on her chest and a blue glow swirls from his hand to the wound, sealing it closed. It still throbs with an intense ache, but it's not as bad now. "Not exactly healed, unfortunately that's not possible, but it won't get any worse."

"How do I stop them?"

"What? The Wraiths?" Bill laughs, "You can't."

"But they _can_ be stopped. They _can_ be defeated."

"True," he concedes, "most things can."

"How?"

Bill Cipher laughs, "I wouldn't worry about them. Once I'm done with you, the other timeline will disappear and they along with it. They won't be a problem much longer."

"And in the meantime?"

"Don't let go."

* * *

A/N Phew! That was so hard to get through! Hope you enjoyed it! As always please let me know what you think, good or bad! Reviews feed the muse, and really helps keep me going.

Also, one last thing. I'm thinking about starting a writing challenge thingie this summer, something to get the fanfiction writing community together and it could be a lot of fun. Like, each week you're given a prompt, a word count and a time limit and anyone who wishes to participate writes something within those guidelines and shares it. I created a forum to get started, but before I jump right in, I need to know if there's any interest. So, if you're interested in maybe participating or contributing ideas, please PM me for details.


	14. Reprieve

A/N Today's the day! New episode! I probably won't see it for at least another week but it's so good to know the hiatus is finally over!

Thanks to my wonderful reviewers are in order...

RockSunner: I'm glad you're still enjoying this! Thanks for being a faithful reviewer!

shootingstar34: Intense was what I was going for so, yay! Yeah, the Wraiths are pretty relentless. As for Other Dipper's thoughts in "Made Me Realize" it might take a while, so please be patient, despite having that one plotted out in my head, I've got a bit of the writer's block on that one too. Plus I've learned that focusing on one story at a time helps with the momentum. I think I got a little carried away posting that when I did.

That 'Inactive' Afliction: Welcome to my fic! I'm really glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for the review!

TMNTKittySidekick01: Oh dear, please don't send Bill Cipher my way! Here, have an update! Thanks as always for the review!

Extreme Light 9: Thanks for the review!

The Last Deathly Guardian: I'm glad the intensity of the last chapter worked! Bill is such a scoundrel for taking so long, isn't he? I guess he was 'ahem' busy or something. Hopefully all your questions will be answered in due time. Thanks for the review!

gravityfalls22: Don't blame Bill for taking so long, for all we know he was being attacked by a bowl of salsa, very hazardous when you're a floating Dorito. Oh so many questions! Yay! As I said to TLDG (above), they will be answered in due time... maybe...muahaha! Yeah, I put poor Mabel in quite the situation, caught between a rock and a hard place, the ultimate catch-22 and all that. Yay title relevance! I'm sure with all these hard choices she's being forced to make, even the most innocuous decision will start to have her ackin' all cray-cray. (At the diner with Lazy Susan: Did you want soup or salad with your meal? Mabel: AHHHHH! Lazy Susan: What? It was just a question!) I love your review, (as always, they're awesome) but this one is so quotable, like the critic's blurbs on movie posters: "I feel like I've been shoved onto a crazy roller caster that just stopped when I finished reading!" gravityfalls22 Most quotable compliment ever! I literally LOL'd and squeed with joy! Thanks my friend! I feel like I have more to say but I'm forgetting what it was at the moment. Love our email exchanges. You have become my rock and truly have helped keep me motivated even when my brain goes blank whenever I'm at my laptop trying to lose the writer's block.

NinNin618: Yeah, sorry about the delay. Writer's block. Grrrrrr! I'm really glad you're enjoying this! I hope it's worth the wait!

tumblrgirl3D: Wow, thanks so much for the huge compliment! Welcome to the fic! I feel honoured that you consider this a favourite! I'm really glad you like this so much and I hope this update is worth the wait! Thanks for your interest in the fanfiction challenge by the way! So far you're the only one, but that's alright! I hope to get at least a couple of more people on board before I get started, but hey, maybe interest will pick up? We'll see. Either way, I think it should be fun!

KTDLover: Hey, better late than never! I'm glad you liked that chapter, even though it was a little dark. Will letting Stan in on the secret pay off? Stay tuned to find out! Thanks for the review!

Kayleigh1789: Of course I remember you! Thanks for your reviews here and for "Made Me Realize"! And I'm sure I've seen you around reviewing as a guest before at some point? Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my stories and I'm glad you're enjoying them!

-0-

Well, that's it for now! If I missed anyone I apologise! And if you're 'quietly' following this, please give me a shout! I would love to hear from you! It's cool to know who all is out there reading this! Guest reviews are always welcome, so don't feel like you can't if you don't have an account either! I know you're out there!

Anyway, after all I put poor Mabel through last chapter, I feel she deserves a bit of a break. So without futher ado, here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

**Reprieve**

Mabel wakes up an hour or so later with a muted groan, she blinks her eyes open to see Dipper and Grunkle Stan by her side, speaking in hushed tones about something she can't quite make out, but the moment she shows signs of waking they're on alert. She whimpers when she tries to move, the pain in her chest flaring unexpectedly.

"Mabel," Dipper breathes, "welcome back. How are you feeling?"

"I h-hurt everywhere," she replies, clutching at her chest weakly, "it…kinda hurts to breathe." Dipper's eyes widen with worry and she quickly adds, "But it's not as bad as before. D-did anyone get the n-number for that t-truck that obviously ran me over?" she forces a grin, trying to be more like her old self but it's clearly not working. Probably because of the shakiness in her voice and almost manic, trying-to-laugh-to-keep-from-crying delivery. She glances over at the other side of the room, relieved to see nothing but an empty hospital bed, but the faintest scent of sulphur in the air makes her tense with paranoia.

_Your brother's going to burn…_

She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to will herself to forget the attack, but the memory hits her like a tidal wave and she rolls onto her side in a ball, tucking her arms to her chest and resting her clenched fists over her mouth as she releases a soft sob. Dipper gently rests his hand on her upper arm, "Are they…?"

"Th-they're gone for n-now, b-b-but…" she whimpers helplessly, "I don't know what to do…it's hopeless…they'll just be back and then…I'm not…not strong enough to h-hold on much longer and…" she stops, realizing that she's on the verge of saying too much and that the only thing she's accomplishing is scaring her family. She turns her head towards her pillow, hiding her face as she chokes back a sob. _Pull yourself together, Mabel! You're freaking them out!_

"Don't talk like that," Dipper tells her encouragingly, "you're one of the strongest people I know, and it's not hopeless. You have to believe that sis."

"I'm trying," she says, "but…I just d-don't know anymore." She winces and looks up at him, "I have to get out of here."

Dipper frowns, clearly conflicted about that issue and he turns to Stan and then back to Mabel, "I know, I get it but…" he sighs, "Grunkle Stan…?"

She gets the impression that Dipper and Stan talked about this already while she was sleeping, but she can't tell where they stand on the issue and she wonders if Dipper told Stan yet what was going on. But then she doubts for a moment whether she gave him permission to or not, she remembers saying he could but then again, she could've dreamt it. She rolls onto her back and tries to sit up but the pain in her chest has her trembling and she doesn't get very far. Her quivering arms quickly give out and she collapses to her pillow but Dipper makes no move to assist, instead he silently motions her to relax. He hits the controls to adjust the bed so she's more in a sitting position.

"Better?" he asks and she nods sheepishly.

"Dipper, do us a favour and get the nurses, see if they can give Mabel something for the pain," Stan cuts in, "you look like you're really hurtin' kid."

"Y-yeah…" Mabel reluctantly agrees, but she's not sure how much help painkillers would be. If anything they'd only make her drowsy and vulnerable again, besides, what good is modern medicine when it's her soul that's injured the most?

"But…"

"No buts Dipper, I'd kinda like to talk to Mabel alone for a bit, all right?"

He hesitates, a strange expression crossing his face.

"Go. We should be fine for a few minutes, right?" he sighs, "Can you trust me with this?"

Dipper frowns and does as he's told leaving Mabel and Stan alone.

"What's wrong?" Mabel asks, glancing back and forth between them. "Dipper mad at you?"

"Don't worry about it kiddo," Stan waves her off, "he's just struggling to make sense of everything. The past couple of days…been hard on all of us."

Mabel buries her face in her hands, whimpering, "I know, I'm sorry…"

"Whoa, don't be sorry, Mabel," Stan protests, "we just want you to get better is all. Stop talking like everything that's happened is your fault, because it's not." He takes off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, and she can see the stress is taking its toll on him. His eyes are sad and distant as he puts his glasses back on, and gets lost in thought for a moment before he sighs, giving her a small smile, patting her on the knee, "If anyone's to blame, it's me. I am so sorry sweetie for what I put you kids through I just…aw dammit…I never wanted you kids to get hurt."

"I know," Mabel replies quietly, "you just wanted your brother back and I…I stopped that from happening…because of me and my choice I..." _I should have trusted you but…if I did then…_ she glances to the other bed, though to Grunkle Stan it looks as though she's merely avoiding his gaze, she closes her eyes with a quiet whimper when she sees a quick wisp of smoke, "It's my fault and I'm so sorry…"

"No, I should have told you kids what was going on, maybe things would've been different," Stan shakes his head, "or better yet, maybe I should've refused to let your parents send you kids to Gravity Falls in the first place. Then neither of you would've gotten hurt..."

"Don't say that Grunkle Stan!"

"But it's true… I knew activating the Portal would be dangerous, but I never thought…the last thing I wanted was for you kids to…dammit, dammit, _dammit_!" his eyes glisten and he looks away, wiping at his eyes and Mabel's taken aback with how much raw emotion he's allowed to slip through his gruff exterior. Stan clenches and unclenches his fists and frowns, "Dipper told me what's going on with you, what happened earlier…"

Mabel goes quiet, clutching at the invisible wound on her chest. Bill managed to close the wound in her dream, but he didn't heal it completely; she could still feel it throbbing deep within and not for the first time she wonders—_What did they do to me?_

"A-and…?" she asks hesitantly.

"Are you sure the thing that attacked you was a Wraith?"

"D-do you know about Wr-wraiths?"

"A little," he admits, avoiding looking her in the eye, "Are you _sure_ that's what attacked you?"

"I'm sure," she replies, glancing at the other bed and squeezing her eyes shut when the faint wisp of smoke takes shape and empty smoke-filled eyes glare menacingly at her.

_There's no escaping us little one…_

"Did it latch onto you as a host?" he asks. Mabel bites her lip, looking at her hand so she could avoid his gaze, at the slight bruising peeking from under the tape keeping her IV in place from where she had pulled it out before. She doesn't know how to answer that, not anymore, not since this latest attack. "Mabel, this is very important, OK?" he says, his voice even and completely serious, "Did it latch onto you as a host?"

"I…I don't know," she replies, "I don't _think_ so but…"

Grunkle Stan leans forward, removes his glasses again and runs his hand up and down his face, knocking his fez off his head but he makes no move to pick it up, instead he just combs his fingers through his grey and white hair, and heaves a weary sigh. "OK…" he exhales shakily, nodding as he sweeps his hand over the floor to retrieve his fez, "OK…" he puts his fez back on and nods again, "Yeah…OK."

"Grunkle Stan?"

He pauses, regarding her for a moment, "Don't worry kiddo, Dipper and I have a plan."

"D-do you know how to get rid of them?"

"Them? More than one?"

"Uh…it? Maybe? Sometimes I think there's just one, but then I hear it/them talk and it always says 'we' and 'us' so I'm not sure."

Stan nods dismissively, "OK, well it, them, whatever…we have a plan. Stanley's journals don't give a lot of information on this thing, as far as I know anyway, I've never done much more than skim those journals of his. It doesn't matter anyway, because I…" he pauses, his eyes going distant for a moment before he shakes it off and continues, "there's some things we can try to keep it…_them_ away from you…provided it hasn't latched onto you."

"What if it's too late? Wh-what if they already have?"

Before he can answer Dipper walks in, along with a nurse. She looks Mabel over, marks something onto her chart and frowns when checking her vitals. "How are you feeling, Mabel?"

"I'm OK," she replies quietly, "better now."

"That's good, but your brother says you're in pain?"

"My…my chest hurts, it hurts when I move or breathe but…" _There's not much you can do about that…_

"Well, your pulse is still pretty high, and your BP is still quite low, but they're at the same levels as when you first came in. It's not good but it's better than it was earlier," the nurse says, "I'll relay this to the doctor and see what we can do about the pain."

"OK," Mabel nods.

"How about your ankle?"

"It's fine," she shrugs, having almost forgotten about it with so much more important things going on. But now that the nurse mentioned it she can feel it throb, and she knows that she made it worse during the gravity anomaly this morning but compared to everything else, she may as well have been asking about a paper cut.

"Well, make sure you stay off it, OK?"

"I don't exactly have the energy to go anywhere anyway so, no problem," she replies with a weak grin and an unenthusiastic thumbs up. The nurse smiles and leaves.

"Dipper, I'm not finished talking to Mabel could you uh…?" Stan tilts his head towards the door, "I won't be long."

"Uh, sure," Dipper frowns, turning to Mabel who nods.

"Maybe you could check on…you know…"

"Um…right," Dipper perks up slightly, grinning at Mabel before leaving.

Mabel glances curiously at her Grunkle, "Am I missing something?"

"What? No, nothing," he replies quickly.

She frowns, knowing he's lying but sees no point on dwelling on it. "So what's the plan? Am I getting out of here then?"

Stan rolls his eyes at her, "Nice try, sweetie. But no. Not yet."

"But I'm…"

"Look, I know that you don't feel like you're safe here, and I get it," Stan says, "believe me I get it. See that's kind of the problem. If you're sick because of something supernatural, then the doctors aren't gonna be able to fix ya. _But_, that said, especially after that attack earlier, it's handy having them around. I don't want to know how bad off you'd be without them because their treatments are at the very least helping ease your symptoms. Besides, I'm sure your parent's would have my head on a silver platter if I tried checking you out without the go-ahead from the doc. I know that you feel vulnerable to more attacks here for some reason, but like I said, Dipper and I have a plan."

"And what's that?"

"The journals have a few protection spells, some are for specific things, but some are powerful and can ward of almost any kind of spirit," he says.

"Almost?"

"Most," he clarifies, "and we're going to put all of them in place. One of them's bound to work. Those Wraiths or whatever ain't gonna touch you anymore, not if we can help it."

"It's kind of weird," Mabel muses, "seeing you talk about spells and the journals when most of the summer you denied anything weird and paranormal even existed."

"Kid, me and my brother had been looking into weird things like that since before you were even a _concept_," he tells her, "you and Dipper call yourself the Mystery twins? Meet one half of the _original_ Mystery Twins."

"Really?" she raises a brow, surprised by this revelation.

"Oh sure, when we were your age we used to…." He pauses, his eyes getting misty with sadness, nostalgia and grief and she has to look away from shame and guilt. Stan continues, "I wasn't as into it as my brother was, but I know a thing or two. So long as those things haven't latched onto you as a host, you're going to be fine..."

"S-so what do we do if they have?"

He hesitates, his expression darkening as he thinks carefully about his answer and she knows that he doesn't _have_ an answer, because he doesn't know. Or maybe he does know but it's bad…very bad. _It's hopeless, there's nothing they can do, nothing will work…_she thinks.

"Then we'll figure out a plan B," he replies, "but you should be fine, kid. I don't think you have anything to be worried about."

_Then why do you look so scared, Grunkle Stan?_

"There's just one thing that bugs me though," Stan continues hesitantly.

"What's that?"

"OK two things," he corrected himself, "how did they get through the portal, and why you, kid? Dipper says you told him that you think you saw them when you looked into the portal, but the door never fully opened, they shouldn't have been able to get through. Makes no sense. And why _you_? Are you absolutely _sure_ it's a Wraith that's been attacking you?"

Mabel sighs, "I'm sure that's what it is. Th-the journal describes them perfectly as I saw them. As for the rest, I…I don't know. I think it's because I was the closest target."

"This doesn't make sense. From what I can tell, they can't even survive very long without a host, and yet you're still you so if they _did_ latch on to ya…" he frowns, "something doesn't seem right. Something is off about this whole thing. Last time…"

Mabel perks up as Stan abruptly cuts himself off as though he realizes he said too much, "Wait…Grunkle Stan, you dealt with these things before?"

He sighs, "Maybe?"

"What happened? How did you stop them?"

"Let's just say it didn't end very well," Stan replies, avoiding her gaze before he quickly adds, "but I didn't really know what I was doing at the time. I didn't even have a journal to help me with it, not that they have much information to work with in the first place but… things were different last time. Worse. There's no reason to think that this will end in disaster this time around though."

Mabel sinks into her pillow, feeling defeated, "You're just saying that. We both know it's hopeless."

"Don't say that," Grunkle Stan snaps gently, "like I said, things are different this time around. Now that I think about it, my guess is that the reason things are so different is because for whatever reason, you've been able to resist them. Demons can't possess people without permission, so they resort to whatever means they can to get what they want."

"They keep telling me to let go," Mabel admits, "I won't do it and it's making them angry. I think…I think that's why they keep attacking me." She wraps her arms around herself, grasping lightly at her aching chest, trembling from the weight of everything. She sniffs, feeling a tear fall down her cheek as she lowers her eyes. _What did they do to me?_

"Dammit kid…" he sighs shaking his head with awe and sympathy, "I know it's a lot to deal with but…we can work with this. I don't know why they're gunning for you so badly but they wouldn't be fighting so hard to get you if they've latched onto you so it's not hopeless. Not yet," he smirks sadly, "you're a Pines, and us Pines are tough as nails, it takes a lot to knock us down and we always get back up again. You keep fighting them sweetie with all you have. Leave the rest to Dipper and me…"

"What if your plan doesn't work?"

"Hey," Stan says firmly, cupping his hand under her chin, "Mabel, look at me." He gently turns her head towards him, "Do you trust me?" Stan asks sincerely, and she slowly lifts her gaze to look him in the eyes. She can see raw grief and pain in them, but also stone cold determination. She blinks back tears and nods. "Good. Because those things are going _down_. No one hurts my niece and gets away with it. No one. If Plan A doesn't work, we go on to Plan B, if that doesn't work…we ain't giving up, kid. Never."

"Thanks," she murmurs, "but…I'm so tired. I don't think I'm st-strong enough…"

"Sure you are," Stan scoffs, "don't let them trick you into thinking you're weak. From everything I've ever learned about demons and ghosts, they'll do whatever they can to wear you down. They hurt and manipulate and try to convince you that the only way out is surrender. They lie. Keep your head up, kiddo, keep being the strong, optimistic and courageous girl I know you are. Don't let them win."

"I'll try," she replies quietly, but she doesn't sound convincing, not even to her own ears. She wants to be that girl he just described, but a deep emptiness grips her tight and she's not sure that she can anymore.

Grunkle Stan just sadly looks at her a moment, pats her on the knee and steps away, "OK."

Mabel glances at the table by her bed and notices Journal #2 sitting there, "Hey uh, Grunkle Stan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I know you said you only skimmed these journals but…I'm wondering if maybe you know anything about…" she grabs the journal and flips through it until she finds the page she's looking for, "About this? Dipper and I came across it when we were outside and well...do you know anything about what it might mean?" She shows him the page with Bill Cipher and the symbols and Grunkle Stan's face instantly darkens. It kind of throws her off guard, "Grunkle Stan?"

"What do you want to know?" he asks, his voice thick and grim.

"Well uh…what's up with these symbols? Dipper and I kinda noticed that some of these look familiar. Like this one looks like your fez, this is the same symbol on Dipper's hat and this is the same design as my favourite sweater, and…"

"Coincidence," he shrugs dismissively, and she's not sure if he seriously thinks so or if he's just saying that and knows far more than he's willing to share.

Mabel frowns, "Pretty crazy coincidence if you ask me. What about this guy in the middle?"

"I don't know much about him but what I can tell you is that if you ever see him, run. Run the other way and don't look back. Don't talk to him, don't listen to him and never _ever_ let him trick you into dealing with him, OK?" he says firmly, his voice dark with a quiet rage. "Why do you ask?"

"Uh…"

"Mabel, have you seen him?"

She nods, "Um, yeah."

"When?"

"Well…the first time I saw him was when Gideon summoned him," Mabel murmurs.

"Wait, he's been _summoned_?" Stan exclaims.

"Yeah. He used him to invade your mind to get the code for your safe, shortly before he stole the Shack," Mabel explains, "Dipper, Soos and I stopped him though…"

Stan narrows his eyes, "I thought I was just having a messed up dream...it all makes sense now..." He shakes his head, "This isn't good, once he's been summoned he's hard to get rid of…you haven't seen him since have you?"

"Um…" Mabel is surprised to see the quiet panic building up in her Grunkle and she's not sure how to answer that. _Well, he possessed Dipper and hurt him while trying to get his journal from him…and not to be outdone I kinda made a deal with him too…that's kind of where my Wraith problem comes in because there's two timelines now and…_

Grunkle Stan shakes his head, "Nevermind, one problem at a time. If you ever see him again, remember what I said. Don't give him the time of day, got it?"

"Uh yeah," Mabel nods, relieved that he doesn't expect an answer. "Grunkle Stan, what did he do?"

"Don't worry about him, kiddo, just focus on getting better and fighting those Wraiths, they're the bigger problem," Stan gives her a forced smile, "this guy's not important right now. Gideon's the one who was stupid enough to summon him, let him worry about it, OK?"

"But what about these symbols? What does…?"

"Coincidence."

_Denial's not just a river in Egypt Grunkle Stan, what aren't you telling me?_ Mabel feels her heart and her breath quicken as she thinks about it. _It's hopeless…what am I going to do? What am I going to do?_ She winces in pain as her chest throbs with each frantic breath and she can feel an _actual_ anxiety attack coming on.

"Mabel," Stan soothes, catching onto her panic as his eyes glance at the monitor, "Calm down, deep breaths, don't freak out now," he speaks in an even tone as he takes the journal and closes it, "one problem at a time. This guy's just another creature documented in my brother's journals. The symbols don't mean anything so don't worry about them, OK kid? You've got bigger fish to fry, and we're going to beat them to the ground."

_Oh Grunkle Stan if you only knew…_

Despite the hopelessness of the situation Mabel manages to catch her breath and calm herself, because panic isn't going to help with anything.

Stan gives her a moment to collect herself and finally asks, "You good?"

"I…I think so," Mabel whispers.

"Good," he grins wanly, heading for the door, "Keep fighting kid. Dipper and I got this."

"Wait, where are you going?" Mabel's eyes widen when she realizes he's leaving.

"If we're going to try and ward off these Wraiths, Dipper and I are going to need a few things," he replies.

"But…"

"I know you don't want to be alone, and can't blame you either," Stan shrugs, "but we need to do this. Don't worry though, the cavalry should be here by now."

"Huh?"

Stan opens the door and Dipper's on the other side, he looks concerned for a second and then he smiles, motioning to someone out of her line of sight. Seconds later a familiar face tentatively looks in and then another.

"Mabel!"

"Wow, girl you look terrible!"

"That's OK though, we can take care of that with the makeovers!"

Mabel's not sure if she should laugh, cry or both when she sees Candy and Grenda step in. Part of her feels embarrassed, because she knows she's a mess but seeing her two best friends bound inside with encouraging grins on their faces fills her wounded spirit with warmth. "Girls!" she exclaims, hugging them as they give her a soft purple teddy bear and a flower, "Wow, thanks!"

"Dipper told us you were here, we just had to come and help cheer you up!" Candy exclaims.

"What's wrong anyway?" Grenda asks.

"Uh…we don't really know," she replies quietly, "I'm hoping to find out and get out of here soon but…"

Dipper approaches her for a moment, resting his hand on hers, "So, we have to run some um…errands, you going to be OK while we're gone?" he asks, and she catches the silent, unasked question in his eyes. _Are you OK with this?_

Mabel's pretty sure that if he had asked her if she was OK with her friends visiting, she probably would have said no. She knows she's a mess, and it's bad enough having her family worry about her so the idea of dragging her friends into it seemed like it would be a bad idea. But now that they're here…she's glad to have them around, even though the surprise and their very presence feels a little overwhelming somehow. She smiles tiredly, "Yeah."

Dipper returns the grin, shuffles his feet slightly, clearly reluctant to leave her, even with her friends by her side, and gives her hand a quick squeeze, "We won't be long." He joins Grunkle Stan who gives her a solemn nod and they leave.

Mabel sighs, listening to the shower of questions coming from her friends, mostly about how she's feeling and how she ended up in the hospital in the first place. She's unsure of how to answer most of them and little overwhelming is quickly beginning to turn into _a lot_ overwhelming, because everywhere around her is noise, noise, noise. There's so much on her plate, Grunkle Stan has given her so much to think about and even though the distraction her friends bring is a welcome reprieve, at the same time there's an urgency in her mind to figure out what to do about her predicament. She hurts so much inside and out, and even though she's normally more extroverted than she is now, she doesn't know what to say. She's so screwed and she doesn't know what to do or say or think or feel.

She forces a grin, as a tear falls from her eye and suddenly the questions stop and the room falls into silence.

"Mabel?" Candy asks after a moment, noticing their normally bubbly friend's quiet distress.

"Sorry girls," Mabel huffs a laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes quickly, "I uh…I don't really know um…what..."

She feels stupid. She's not the same person she was just a few days ago, at Pacifica's party; it's bad enough freaking her family out with her sudden change, and now she's got her friends worried. _What do you think of me now?_ she wonders self consciously, not knowing what to tell them about anything. They fought a candy monster together, so it's not like the same kind of partial truth she told Dipper and Grunkle Stan would shock them all that much, probably wouldn't even scare them off but she feels an odd sort of obligation to be more like the old Mabel, but she doesn't even have the energy to try.

"No, we're sorry," Candy shrugs, shaking her head.

"Yeah," Grenda agrees, "You don't need us bombarding you with so many questions right now."

"We're here to help," Candy added, "what do you need?"

"I...I..." she doesn't have an answer to that question. The pain in her chest flares and she can see a wisp of smoke out of the corner of her eye. "I don't know," she whimpers, closing her eyes, _It's hopeless, what am I going to do?_

She stiffens when she feels a hand on her shoulder, and she can feel Candy sit on the bed beside her and pull her into her arms. She starts to return the hug when she feels Grenda sit on the other side of her joining in by hugging them both, each girl cautious and mindful of the IV and wires. That's when the dam breaks and Mabel begins to sob, something she's been doing a lot of lately, but as much as she values and needs the support from Dipper and Stan, this time is different. Maybe it's because she doesn't feel personally responsible for their safety and happiness like she is with her family, but wrapped in the comfort and protection of her two best friends, Mabel feels a cleansing strength in her soul, lifting the burden from her shoulders.

She knows it's temporary, she knows the weight will inevitably come crashing down all around her, but for now she just lets it all out, the stress, the pain, the sense of doom...and for the first time in days she feels relieved.

* * *

A/N Well, these chapters seem to be getting longer and longer. I hope you don't mind. Please let me know what you think, as always I love any kind of feedback you have to offer.

Also, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! A new episode is finally among us, due to air today. I know we're all excited but keep in mind I probably won't see it for at least a few more days, possibly more and I am a HUGE spoilerphobe, like, I haven't even watched the promo because I'm trying to avoid ANY possible spoilers. I've spent most of the hiatus in an internet bubble to avoid possible spoilers so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE I implore you, if you watched the episode before reading this, and feel compelled to mention anything, I mean ANYTHING that happens in the episode in a review, please don't. I'm sure you won't, but it's happened to me in the past with other fandoms so I want to play it safe.

Well, rejoice and enjoy the end of hiatus! Thanks so much for your support through this story and patience as I battle the evil writer's block, hopefully this is the end of that nuisance. Thanks for reading and don't forget to be awesome!


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